Shadows
by DarkHououmon
Summary: Rated for later chaps. The Dino Squad always believed Victor Veloci was their worst enemy. They thought that no one could be worse than an evil velociraptor bent on world domination. But when an ancient, highly intelligent dinosaur species, one they never heard of before until now, emerges, the Dino Squad may be forced to make a deal with the devil if the world is going to survive.
1. New Dinosaur

Author's Note: This is the sequel to Scars. This story, by comparison, is written a little simpler, as I had burnt myself out with writing when working on Scars.

sss

*Past*:

A female velociraptor ran across the forest floor. Normally she appeared as dark green with pale green stripes and a beige underside, her head feathers colored an even darker green, but now she was covered in slick mud and hardened blood. Her eyes were wide with horror and her mouth open, her tongue hanging out. Other than her breathing, the only sounds she could hear were horrid death screams from her pack mates as they were ripped to shreds by the intruders.

She leaped over a log and turned, a large cave coming into view, her target. She ran towards the cave and entered it. There was an occupant, a male velociraptor, red in color with a white underside and grey-purple stripes, lacking head feathers. He walked up to greet her, but seemed to hesitant when he seemed to register the look of shock on her face. The female velociraptor stood still, panting to catch her breath.

"Green Scale..." The male velociraptor hissed gently, noticing the blood covering her. He took a step forward and used his snout to push some mud off of the other velociraptor. He pulled back, a clump of mud now on his snout. "What has happened? Where are the other hunting members?"

"The hunting members and I were attacked.." She responded, grunting slightly in pain. She glanced down at her arm, where she had been bitten. "We never saw them coming."

The other velociraptor snapped his head back in shock. "You were attacked? By which of our competitors?"

"Neither." She responded.

"Neither? You're saying one of our foods attacked the hunting party?" He inquired, tilting his head slightly to the side. "It's not unheard of, but very rare."

Green Scale narrowed her eyes slightly. "If only it were that..."

The male velociraptor looked confused. "Then...what?"

Green Scale shook her head. "It was like nothing I had seen before...Strange creatures that..looked like prey but weren't.. They were too fast..too strong. They killed many of us so effortlessly while we struggled to even get a claw into them."

Just then, a loud roar echoed through the forest. The screeching of distant pterosaurs could be heard. The bellowing of startled prey mixed in. The two velociraptors snapped their heads back and looked out of the cave. They had never heard a roar like that before. It sounded similar to one of their biggest competitors, an oviraptor, but there was a more guttural sound in the roar. Another roar sounded out, this one sounded much closer.

They immediately turned to face the opening. They were the alphas of their pack and there were chicks to defend. Preparing for an attack, they split their jaws wide open and hissed loudly, raising their hands up to brandish their sharp claws. They stood side by side near the opening, waiting for one of the unknown creatures to show up. But instead they were met with a long, uncomfortable silence.

A few minutes pass by and they hadn't heard anymore sounds. The forest seemed to regain a calming atmosphere to it. But despite that, they didn't let their guard down. The male velociraptor walked towards the opening and looked around. The female velociraptor walked up to him and looked around as well. She pointed her snout upwards and sniffed a few times.

"I can detect them, Red Shadow." Green Scale turned to face her mate. "They are definitely close by."

Red Shadow shifted his gaze from side to size. "I cannot see them. Where are they hiding...?"

In front of them, there was hardly any thick foliage save for the trees. But there were no trees too close to the cave. Whatever was coming towards them, they would need to show their faces sooner or later. The two velociraptors knew this. They just needed to continue to keep watch, not giving the creatures any chance of a surprise attack. But no matter how long they stood outside the cave, they seemed to hear nothing and see nothing. The only thing they even detected was a light breeze in the air, blowing Green Scale's head feathers back.

Red Shadow snorted impatiently. "Why are those cowards hiding? Why don't they show themselves?" In frustration, he stomped on the ground and let out a loud roar. "Hey! We know you are there! Come on out!" He become more irritated when he got no response. "Cowards!"

Green Scale nudged her made somewhat roughly. "Red Shadow! Don't let them know we're out here! They could plan a sneak attack!"

The male velociraptor shook his head. "Sneak attack how? There's no other entrance to the cave, except..." His eyes widened. "Oh no!"

It didn't take Green Scale long to realize what her mate had just thought of. "The back entrance!"

The two velociraptors ran around to the back entrance, which lay several feet away. When they arrived, they were immediately met with a grisly site. One of their own, one of the chick's guardians, lay on the ground, ripped apart. They looked at the body in horror and quickly went into the back entrance. It was a little difficult as the back entrance was a burrow, similar to what the tiny mammals use, that lead into the back section of the cave. Once they were inside, they immediately began to look for the chicks.

All around them were corpses of the other guardians. Limbs were scattered, blood splattered all over the cave floor, the foul stench of death hung in the air. It didn't take them long to find a pack member that was still alive, good old Amber Eyes. They rushed to her side. She had a huge hole in her stomach, her intestines exposed. She lifted her head up and opened her jaws to speak.

"Why..if it isn't our brave leaders..." Amber Eyes spoke, her voice slightly laced in anger.

Red Shadow, doing his best to ignore her tone, said, "What happened here? Where are the chicks?"

Amber Eyes coughed, blood dripping from her jaws. She grinned painfully. "We never should have sent the hunting members out... Now we'll all pay the price." She paused and stared at Red Shadow and Green Scale. "...maybe not all of us. You can still get away." She laid her head back on the ground.

Green Scale nudged her gently. "Where are our chicks?"

The dying velociraptor managed a blood-choked chuckle. "They were..." Before she could finish, she fell silent, closing her eyes for the last time.

"Amber Eyes! Amber Eyes!" Green Scale shouted, her eyes wide with shock.

Red Shadow nudged her with his shoulder. "Nevermind that! I just heard the cry of our chicks!"

With that, the two dashed towards where the nursery lay. This was where they would keep the chicks when the hunting members were away. It was open to predation, but usually the guardians would keep the chicks safe. But now the chicks were vulnerable. All of the guardians had been killed by a strange predator they had never seen before. They knew they had to hurry, or else they would lose all of their chicks.

They finally found one of their chicks. The tiny dinosaur was scampering on the ground, as if it were trying to run away from something. Seeing nothing in sight, Green Scale raced towards the baby. Once she reached it, she placed her muzzle against its small, warm body. The chick immediately responded, nuzzling up against its mother. Red Shadow went up to his mate's side as he glanced down at the baby. The chick noticed its father and went up to nuzzle him as well, but he didn't return the affection, instead keeping watch.

They looked around and realized the rest of the chicks were missing. Further inspection revealed more blood splatters, but also something new, bloody footprints. They lead into a shadowy corner of the caved. They looked intently at the shadowed area, seeing nothing but blackness.

Then, after a few seconds, something flew from the shadows and landed in front of them. It was a mutilated corpse of a chick. The body had been ripped cleanly in half, most of its internal organs torn out. The two velociraptors looked at the body in horror and their surviving chick screeched and backed behind its parents. The initial shock of seeing one of their chicks dead quickly passed as they heard heavy footsteps.

Something large was coming out of the shadows, staring at them with gleaming eyes. When it came into the light, it was exposed as a bipedal creature, armed with large, sharp talons on its feet. Long, blade-like feathers sprouted from the back of its neck. Its muzzle was squared off, sharp teeth constantly exposed even when the jaws were closed. The creature was green with a yellow underside. In its jaws, it was holding one of their chicks, still alive as evidenced by it screeching in horror.

Red Shadow roared in fury and dashed towards the creature. He leaped into the air and brought his sickle claws forward, prepared to slash into this intruder. But the creature responded too quickly for him. It reared onto its hind legs and grabbed onto him with a front paw. Red Shadow was shocked momentarily by the presence of an opposable digit on the creature's paws, but he quickly turned his attention back to the creature itself.

He tried to bite into the creature's paw, but found himself slamming into the ground. He cried out in pain as the creature then struck him on his side, leaving long, bloody gashes over his ribcage. He glanced up as the creature's hand claws were closing in towards his head.

Green Scale, after nudging her chick behind a large rock, leaped onto the creature's back and sank her teeth into the creature's shoulders. The animal roared, releasing the chick from its jaws. Red Shadow, having recovered from his fall, snagged the chick in his jaws. Green Scale tried to hang on as the animal started go buck, frantically trying to throw her off. She managed to rip a chunk of flesh from the creature's back before falling into the ground.

"How dare you, you miserable little thing!" The creature spoke, revealing his gender to be male. He glanced down at the velociraptor that now lay at his feet. "No one ever harms an alimon and gets away with it!" He raised his paw in the air, prepared to strike down onto Green Scale's neck.

Green Scale barely dodged the attack and quickly turned back. That's when she noticed something odd about the alimon's left shoulder. There was some kind of scar there, shaped kind of like two sharp teeth crossing each other. Her attention was quickly averted from the scar, however, when the alimon lunged for her, slamming her into the ground and pinning her down with his weight.

Digging his claws into her head, he said, "If you would like to know the name of the one who killed off your pathetic pack, then let me tell you my name. It is Haze." Suddenly, Haze roared in pain as Green Scale drove her sickle claw into one of his back legs. As the alimon staggered back, Green Scale got to her feet and ran out of the cave with her mate and two surviving chicks.

Haze glanced at his wound, licking it tenderly and tasting the salty blood. He looked back to where the two velociraptors had fled, narrowing his eyes angrily. "You have just made a very fatal mistake..." With that, he ran off after them.

*Present*:

The science room at Kittery High was unusually quiet as their professor, Ms. Moynihan, was carrying a somewhat thick stack of papers to her desk. She positioned herself at her desk, not bothering to sit down as she glanced up at her class. "Now class, today we are going to be talking about DNA..."

As Ms. Moynihan was starting her educational speech, Caruso leaned back into his chair, folding his arms behind his back. He was bored and DNA wasn't a subject that interested him too much. It didn't help that he had stayed up extra late last night studying for an exam in another class. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open.

Max, who was sitting next to him, pushed his elbow gently against Caruso, causing the teen to snap to attention. "Caruso, pay attention!" He hissed in a low voice. "You know how Moynihan can be when she finds one of her students sleeping during class!"

Caruso narrowed his eyes. "I wasn't sleeping. I was just resting my eyes."

Max shook his head disapprovingly. "Whatever. Just keep your eyes on the teacher, not towards the ceiling." With that, he looked back at the teacher.

"Whatever." Caruso said, looking back at Moynihan as well. He tried to listen to her long speech about the history of DNA, how it was discovered and such. But no matter how hard he tried, he found he couldn't keep listening to her. Slowly, he closed his eyes and his head started to tilt forward.

"Irwin Caruso!" Ms. Moynihan's voice suddenly spat. Startled and humiliated by hearing his first and last name being called, Caruso snapped to attention. A few classmates started to chuckle as the professor put her hands on her hips. "I understand if you are in some urgent need of a nap, but please, wait until after school before you decide to doze off!"

Caruso lowered his head slightly. "I'm sorry, Professor Moynihan. It won't happen again."

"I sure hope so." Moynihan said. She was about to go back to the topic of DNA, but then she said, "I'd hate to think what the principal will do to you. After all, this is the third time this week you've fallen asleep in my class."

"But I..." Caruso started to say.

"But nothing!" Moynihan said sternly. It was clear she was not in the mood to hear anymore of the boy's excuses. "Now pay attention, unless you want to have another visit with the principal."

Caruso let out a long sigh. "Okay, Professor Moynihan..."

Moynihan nodded and then turned back to the class. "Now, to continue..."

sss

After class was over, Caruso, along with Fiona and Buzz, were sitting at a table in the cafeteria, eating their lunch. All around them, they could hear the loud chatter of their classmates. It was so loud it was hard to hear each other speak. Caruso wasn't in a talkative mood anyway. He was eating slowly, even slower than usual. He rested his head on his hand and let out a soft sigh. Fiona and Buzz, who had finished eating, just shook their heads.

"Come on, Caruso..." Fiona said, holding her hand out slightly. "You aren't still upset that Moynihan called you out today, are you?"

Caruso grumbled. "I don't see why she had to say anything...I wasn't even sleeping!"

"Well, if she hadn't said something, you would have fallen asleep." Buzz pointed out. Caruso didn't bother to respond to Buzz's statement because he knew, deep down, it was true.

"But Caruso..." Fiona said. "You need to understand that, even though you're tired, you can't keep falling asleep in school. Just what are you doing staying up so late anyway?"

"Studying." Caruso replied in a bitter voice. "I was studying."

This didn't take Fiona or Buzz by surprise. They had been aware that Caruso really wanted to ace a test he was taking in another class. He had never aced a test before and, ever since his studying spree back when Buzz was getting a scholarship, he had been more and more interested in getting perfect scores on his tests. And for a while he was doing fine, until his sleep problems started to emerge.

They were subtle at first, such as delayed reactions in responding, yawning once or twice, but they got progressively worse, even to the point where he started to fall asleep during science class. And, no surprise, Ms. Moynihan wasn't very pleased with him and had lectured him at the lighthouse in their last meeting. But despite promises to stay awake, it seemed Caruso was having an increasingly hard time keeping his eyes open.

This concerned the others not just because of class, but also because Caruso has been slacking during the missions as well, at one point almost putting them all in danger. If it hadn't been for their newest member, Michelle, they all would have been captured by Veloci's men. After that mission, Moynihan scolded Caruso, but the boy seemed to dismiss her. He said that he had everything under control and nothing bad would have happened. His attitude displeased Moynihan and the rest of his teammates.

"Just try to stay awake next time." Fiona said with weak urgency. She had tried to tell him that before, but her words apparently always fall on deaf ears when it came to Caruso recently. While part of her was glad the stubborn Caruso was back, another part of her was frustrated.

"Don't worry." Caruso said, lacking enthusiasm. "I'll stay awake next time. I promise."

"You'd better." Buzz said, pointing at him. "I wouldn't want you to have to face the principal. I really don't like that guy."

"Why not?" Fiona asked, turning her head towards Buzz.

"He's just too strict." Buzz said. "If it weren't for my parents, I wouldn't have been allowed into the school with this hair." He stroked his green mohawk gently.

"Hey you guys." Said a voice. The trio turned to see Terri, Fiona's younger sister, coming up to them. It was rare for them to see Terri in the cafeteria at this time, but due to a temporary schedule change, she shared the same lunch hour as they did.

"Hello, Terri." Buzz, said, smiling. "What brings you over here?"

Terri smiled back. "I wanted to tell you guys something I heard about. It seems like something right up your alley, since you're the...you know..." She dare not speak the name 'Dino Squad' in public for fear of giving them away. She sat down next to Buzz.

Caruso decided to use this as an excuse to shift his thoughts to something else. Perhaps what Terri had to say would make him forget all about the incident back in the classroom. He stared at Terri and said, "What did you hear?"

Terri cleared her throat and, glancing at the trio to make sure they were paying attention to her, she said, "Well I hear some scientist has discovered an unknown species of dinosaur!"

"Big deal." Caruso mumbled, almost immediately losing interest. "Those scientist guys discover new dinosaurs all the time."

"This one is different." Terri insisted. "It can't even be classified. It looks like a sauropod, but it's..not. It's too different."

"How different?" Fiona asked.

Terri sighed and shook her head. "I honestly don't know... They didn't say anymore. They hadn't fully excavated the body yet. So far they just know its body is similar to that of a sauropod's, but there's something different in the way the bones are shaped."

"I wonder if Veloci has heard of this discovery yet." Buzz chimed in. "You know how he is with dinosaurs. If he discovers they found an unusual species, he'll probably try to take the remains for himself."

"I doubt that, Buzz." Fiona said. "He has already tried to recreate a dinosaur through its skeleton and that didn't work out too well for him." Fiona briefly remembered when Veloci tried to spray an advanced form of primordial ooze on some bones and it ended up dissolving the bones instead. "I don't think he'd want to risk ruining more fossils by trying to resurrect dinosaurs."

But despite her doubts, it still was a concern for her and the others. Veloci would find out about the discovery definitely. Exactly what he would do, they couldn't be entirely certain. But they knew one thing. They would need to tell Moynihan about this and formulate a plan to counter Veloci in case he tried anything.


	2. Doctor Axel

The rest of the school day went by without incident for Caruso. For some reason, he found it easier to stay awake in most of his other classes recently. It was almost science class that he had a hard time recently keeping his eyes open. He thought that maybe the reason was because science class was one of the earlier classes he had to attend, but that didn't make any sense. He had a class before that and rarely fell asleep in that classroom.

It wasn't his highest priority at the moment anyway. Terri's message to them about a newly discovered dinosaur did cause his mind to turn to Veloci. He had never completely recovered from what had happened to him. He was almost back to his usual self, although he was less self-centered than he used to be and a bit more easily frightened than before. He also retained a faint scar on his face. Originally he thought it was gone, but, though faint, it was still there and he could still feel it.

Unfortunately, though not as common anymore, he still had nightmares about Veloci. They were shorter and less intense than they had been when they started, but they were still frightening enough to wake him up, often in the middle of the night. And almost always the nightmares would center around the bridle he was forced to wear for so many hours. Even though the bridle was long off of him and the pain gone, sometimes he still the cold metal in his mouth.

He didn't keep focus on this thought for too long, however, because he was currently standing in front of Ms. Moynihan at the lighthouse. Like usual, he and the others came to the lighthouse after school was over. His eyes were averted away from the old woman as she gave him another lecture about him sleeping in class. The rest of the Dino Squad were sitting nearby, watching the scene with wary eyes.

Moynihan also hadn't fully recovered from what Veloci did to her. Like Caruso, she was mostly back to normal, but still retained some side effects that seemed to be permanent. She was now more aggressive than usual. While not as bad as before, and she was able to easily keep herself from doing anything drastic, she still yelled more often and was more stern than she was before.

While Caruso knew it was not a good idea to talk back to Moynihan while she's like this, he still had enough courage in him to snap at her, "Okay, look, I'm sorry! You don't need to keep yelling at me! I was studying and I stayed up late, okay?!" All the while he kept his eyes turned away from her.

The Dino Squad flinched when Ms. Moynihan slammed her cane in the ground in frustration. She said, "Mr. Caruso! While I understand that you just want to pass your classes, I am sure you are fully aware you can study without staying up all night, don't you? Your studying excuse may be aiding you in one class, but it is hurting you not only in science class but also on the missions. You are endangering yourself and the others!"

"I know that! And I'm sorry!" Caruso shouted, finally turning his head to face Moynihan. "What do you want me to do about?!"

Moynihan paused for a moment, and, in an attempt to calm herself down, took in a few deep slow breaths. When she spoke again, her voice was somewhat calmer before, but still held a strong tinge of anger. "I would like you to keep studying but I'd also like you to stop staying up so late. If you want me to, I can arrange it so that you can go to the library after school hours and study there. If it's peace and quiet you want, you'll get it there."

Caruso sighed softly. "Okay."

Max, who was growing somewhat tense from listening to the conversation, decided to change the subject. He got up out of his seat, but didn't walk away from it. From where he stood, he said, "Hey, Ms. Moynihan. Did you hear about the discovery?"

Moynihan turned her head towards Max. "What discovery?"

"They found a new dinosaur species." Max said. He quickly added, "An unusual one at that. They say it had the appearance of a carnivorous sauropod."

Moynihan's eyes widened just slightly. It was clear she was interested in this discovery. But she also looked apprehensive, as if there was something she knew that she didn't want to talk about. Nonetheless, she walked over to Max, all signs of hostility gone from her. "Actually yes..I think I did hear something about that on the news. No doubt Veloci has as well."

Rodger raised his arms midway. "Of course he knows about it! That nut knows about all the latest scientific discoveries when it comes to dinosaurs!"

Next to him, Buzz nodded in agreement. "I wouldn't be surprised if he has a subscription to every dinosaur program in existence."

"Not necessarily." Michelle, who had remained quiet until now, spoke.

Rodger turned to her. "What do you mean?"

Michelle opened her mouth, but became silent again. She didn't look like she had much interest in continuing on with the conversation. This didn't come as a surprise to the others. She was still frightened of Veloci, if not more so than Caruso was, and it still felt awkward for her to talk about him. Back when she worked at Raptor Dyne, she would have been punished if she said anything about Veloci that he didn't like.

In an attempt to encourage her to continue, Buzz said, "What were you going to say?"

"Oh nothing that interesting." Michelle said casually, leaning back in her seat. "It's just that, well, Veloci never really enjoyed dinosaur programming. Some he likes, but most he doesn't."

Buzz chuckled, finding this amusing. "Why would he be upset about a dinosaur program?"

"Because he is sick of humans trying to guess what dinosaurs were like and what they looked like. He is quite hostile towards some of the theories, like velociraptors having feathers, and he feels these programs just prove how stupid humans are." Michelle said as she twirled a few threads of brown hair with her finger. "He once even punished me after he caught me watching one of those programs."

Moynihan sighed and shook her head. "It seems he hasn't changed that much. I would try to watch a dinosaur program and often it would be ruined by him complaining about it."

"I wonder how he'll hear about this discovery, then." Buzz said thoughtfully. "If he doesn't like watching programs, how does he keep up with the latest discoveries?"

Rodger replied, "Television is not the only place where one could learn about the latest findings. If anything, Veloci probably at least has his men keeping an eye out for the latest news and report to him if they find anything that may be of use for him."

"That's usually how he did it, yes." Michelle said, pointing at Rodger. "He would only want them to give the basics; I guess he didn't want to be bothered with details he knows are false."

"So what could Veloci possibly try to do anyway?" Fiona said. She felt like she needed to bring up another point again. "He can't use the skeleton because, the last time he tried to resurrect a dinosaur from its bones, the bones dissolved almost immediately."

Fiona did seem to have a point. Veloci wouldn't want to waste more precious fossils on the chance that the ooze would dissolve more fossils. Veloci was rather protective of fossils and would often not allow a human to touch them if he could do something about it. He didn't feel humans were worthy of touching bones of a superior species. He even had some complete skeletons back at Raptor Dyne from what Michelle had told them.

Another thing that Michelle told them that did not come as a surprise, especially to Moynihan, was there was another part of Raptor Dyne they did not see. It was another set of caves, separate from the one filled with test tubes and was off limits to everyone but himself, though on occasion he'd let one of his dinosaur transforming members enter the room. Michelle herself had been in it. The area was a near perfect replica of a small, prehistoric jungle, with vines, ferns, and other ancient plants growing, and the heat was comparable to that of sixty-five million years ago. Michelle explained that Veloci sometimes would go there to relax and be alone, especially after a failed mission. He would then come out and, sometimes, make a comment about how he wishes the whole planet felt as relaxing as that room.

While Moynihan might have a similar thought, since she was a velociraptor herself, she knew she couldn't allow Veloci to succeed in doing that. She had left him long ago and she doesn't intend on going back to him ever. She loved the human species and their culture, finding them to be more beneficial than the brute force ideals of Veloci and his global dinosaur domination plan. She knew full well what the consequences would be if he were successful, and it would endanger not only the humans, but Veloci himself.

"So what are your thoughts on the discovery, Ms. Moynihan?" Caruso finally spoke again.

"Fascinating as usual." Moynihan said. "Before I met humans, I never realized how many different types of dinosaurs there were. It always interests me when they find out about a new species."

"What do you think Veloci to do when he finds out?" Fiona asked.

Moynihan paused and glanced at the ground. It was one of those rare moments where she didn't really have an answer. She did know Veloci very well. After all they used to be mates. But for some reason she couldn't think of what Veloci would do about a sauropod-like carnivore except try to recreate it through mutating animals. "He may try to upgrade his primordial ooze to try to focus on the specific look of the new dinosaur and try to resurrect it that way." The Dino Squad looked at each other, not sure what to think.

Max just thought of something. Without pausing, he said, "Ms. Moynihan..are you familiar with a carnivorous sauropod?"

Moynihan seemed to hesitate. "What do you mean?"

"I mean..have you heard of such a thing before?" Max asked.

"..No..not really." Moynihan said with slight hesitation.

sss

A large red truck was moving along a street, slowing down gradually. The front of it was designed to look like the jaws of a prehistoric predator. It looked large enough to hold a dinosaur easily. It was one of Veloci's trucks. He had multiple ones, a precaution ever since his first one sank in a frozen lake when he was going after Buzz. All the trucks were overall the same, though some may have extra additions depending on their intended function. For instance some may be a bit larger if Veloci were expecting to hold a large mutantsaur inside.

The red truck slowed to a stop in front of a large museum. Inside the front of the truck, two men sat down next to each other, both wearing full body suits and helmets to keep their identities anonymous. One of them pulled out a mic and spoke into it. "We're here, sir."

A sliding door behind them opened and Veloci walked out. He walked in between the two seats to peer out the window in front of him. Satisfied that they were at their designated location, he said, "You two wait in here. I won't be long." With that, Veloci walked out of the red truck and into the large museum.

The inside of the museum had a very high ceiling and many displays of fossils, some mounted on the walls, others behind rope. There were many dinosaur and prehistoric mammal skeletons mounted up, many dwarfing the visitors. To some visitors, this was an awe-inspiring site, but not to Veloci. To him, all it did was show how puny and inferior humans were when they stood next to a dinosaur skeleton.

He didn't come to admire the dinosaur skeletons. He had come to meet up with Dr. Axel, another scientist like himself. The fossils had been sent to her for study. He had talked to her on the phone and had arranged to meet with her in the back room of the museum. While he was hoping to have her visit Raptor Dyne instead, she insisted that they meet here. She said that she felt more comfortable talking about the bones at her workstation. This was, after all, where she worked. While he didn't completely understand why she wanted to talk here, Veloci obliged. He had to admit that Dr. Axel was brilliant, for a human anyway, so he was interested in getting her input on the strange new dinosaur species.

He opened the door that lead to the back section. All around there were cabinets which he knew were filled with different kinds of fossils. In a few places there were large tables and tools, no doubt to examine and extract fossils that were recently discovered. Moving a little further back, he made a turn and there, standing at a table, was Dr. Axel. She was facing him, smiling.

Dr. Axel dressed in a bright yellow vest with a red-violet shirt underneath. Her hair was medium length and brown in color. She had red fingernail polish on and her eyes were an icy blue. Despite her somewhat odd looks, she was intelligent and was proficient in studying fossils, particularly those of dinosaurs.

"Why hello there, Dr. Veloci." Axel said, her smile turning slightly sly. "I was wondering what was taking you so long."

"Never mind that now." Veloci said as he approached her. He eyed the skull next to the woman. "Is that the new species?" He asked her, eyeing the skull with curiosity.

"Yes." Axel said, turning around to look at the skull. "This is that new species that was discovered. Bizarre looking thing isn't it?" She pulled the blanket that covered most of the specimen off to reveal the rest of the body, or what was found anyway. Many bones were missing, but the general appearance of the animal was there. "Looks like a sauropod, but, as you can see by the teeth, definitely a carnivore." The creature's skull housed several large, sharp teeth, obvious tools for killing prey. "There's still many bones missing from this animal, but it's obvious this creature ran on all fours."

"Yes." Dr. Veloci said, noting how long the forelimbs were. "I can see that. Quite a contradiction, don't you think?" Axel looked over at Veloci. "Most meat eating dinosaurs that were discovered were two-legged. This may be the first that is an obvious four-legged animal, must like modern day...mammals." He hesitated on the word mammal. He hated to speak it.

Axel walked over to a cabinet and opened it. She pulled out a large slab of stone and carried it to the table. "This was discovered with the creature. It appears to be one of its paws." The stone was broad and somewhat flat. In the center were the unmistakable bones of a paw, showing the digits of the creature clearly. "This is unusual. To explain, this creature is dated back only the late cretaceous, but here.." She pointed to the claws. "..it's easy to tell that this animal had four digits, much like older types of dinosaurs. And once even stranger is that this animal had an opposable digit, like primates. This feature isn't unheard of though. Troodon is thought to have the same thing. But it is odd to find it on a four-legged animal."

Veloci eyed the paw, paying close attention to detail. It did seem interesting that a four-legged animal would develop opposable digits. This would clearly mean the animal must have spent some time on two-legs, or at least freed its forelimbs for manipulation once in a while. "Can you tell, from the fossil, if this animal could go on two legs?"

"It's too early to tell yet, but that's a very real possibility." Axel said. "Especially since it has an opposable digit. It obviously used it for something." She placed the stone slab on the table and looked over at Veloci, as if she knew he wanted to say something.

Veloci thought about this for a moment. "A four-legged animal that can go on two legs. That sounds almost like..."

"A bear? Yes I thought the same thing." Dr. Axel said. "But there are some reptiles that can go on two legs, lizards anyway. A similar mechanism may have been used by these creatures. Perhaps they went on two legs to help themselves move faster."

"And the opposable digits were probably used to move stuff out of the way." Veloci commented. "Another possibility is that they were climbers. Maybe their prey was mostly in the trees." He paused for a second, then continued. "Perhaps they hunted rodents."

Dr. Axel contemplated this for a few seconds, but then shook her head. "Unlikely. Their body mass is too large to have survived on rodents alone. They appear to be larger than the average polar bear at least. They'd need more pounds of flesh to survive and I doubt rodents of the late cretaceous would have been sufficient enough for them."

Dr. Veloci nodded his head. "Understandable. That makes sense. Perhaps they only fed on rodents if they were starving."

Dr. Axel was about to respond, but her cellphone suddenly rang out. She pulled out her cell and put it against her ear. "Hello? Oh it's you." She sounded somewhat disgusted, making it obvious she wasn't in the mood to talk to whoever was on the phone. "I'll be there in a few minutes okay?" She hung up the cellphone quickly and turned back to Veloci. "I'm sorry but we'll have to cut this meeting short. One of my associates insists I come to them. Business as usual."

Veloci nodded slowly. "I understand. We can continue this discussion later." Feeling satisfied with the information that Axel was able to give him, he turned around and walked away.

Axel kept watching him. When he disappeared, she finally looked away and glanced back at the skeleton. "A shame. I was hoping to study you some more. But that'll have to wait."


	3. Sudden Death

After arriving back at Raptor Dyne, Veloci couldn't help but allow his thoughts to go back to the strange creatures Axel had described to him. As he rode the elevator deep into the bowels of Raptor Dyne, he wondered why the species seemed a bit familiar to him. He had never heard of such animals before, and yet there was still something familiar about them, as if he had encountered them once before, so long ago.

Either way, that was of little importance to him. What he was interested in was finding someway to use this discovery to his advantage. He knew he couldn't use the current primordial ooze on the fossils; they'd be destroyed like before. But if he were to modify the ooze, maybe it could work. These odd dinosaurs might prove useful in his battle against the pesky Dino Squad, a group of teenagers who had been a thorn in his side for so long. If it weren't for the traitorous Michelle, he would have been able to kill them all.

He tried his best not to think of Michelle. Thoughts of her almost always invoked feelings of rage within himself, and that wasn't going to help him with his plans of global dinosaur domination. He had wasted enough time trying to kill Michelle, so, for the time being, he had given up on that to refocus his efforts on perfecting the primordial ooze. Despite having gotten the DNA from the so-called 'perfect dinosaurs', the primordial ooze wasn't perfected as quickly as he had initially hoped. There were still some problems to work out, but he was happy that the ooze was at least creating better mutants and were becoming more difficult for the Dino Squad to de-ooze.

The elevator doors opened and he walked into the large, crimson, cavernous lab of Raptor Dyne, filled with monitors, scientists, experiments, and test tubes. The scientists were busy working with the primordial ooze, looking at samples under the microscope. A few of Veloci's men were also present, standing near a computer console, probably to check on statistics or looking at a map to see if any new mutantsaurs had showed up.

There was someone else present, but Veloci wasn't aware of her presence until she dashed towards him from the shadows, nearly taking him by surprise. "So how did your meeting with that..what was her name? Dr. Axel? Or whatever her name is.. How did that go?"

"It went fine, Oscura. No complications." Veloci answered.

Oscura folded her arms. "No interruptions from the Dino Squad?"

Veloci snarled slightly. "Of course not. They only show up if there's primordial ooze or mutantsaurs involved."

"You never know with them." Oscura said, her voice slightly darkened. "They have a way of taking us by surprise."

"Which has decreased ever since we found out they were the 'perfect dinosaurs.'" Veloci said before he started to walk off.

He didn't have to turn around to know that Oscura was following him. Unlike Michelle, Oscura was very loyal to him and was eager to please him. She was probably one of the most enthusiastic employees of Raptor Dyne he had, but that wasn't the major reason he kept her around. Both Oscura and Michelle were infected by the same primordial ooze as the Dino Squad and, thus, both had 'perfect dinosaur' forms. Normally Veloci wouldn't dream of hiring very young humans for his company, but he mad an exception for Oscura and Michelle, believing their abilities would be useful for Raptor Dyne.

And useful they both were...until Michelle betrayed him. Her interference had caused him to lose his opportunity to kill off the Dino Squad when he had the chance to. But that was history now. There was nothing he could do about that. He knew he would get another chance; he just needed to be patient.

"So is there anything you want me to do?" Oscura asked, who was keeping pace with Veloci.

Veloci turned his head towards her while his body still moved forward. "What makes you think I have any mission planned out for you?"

"I didn't think you did." Oscura confessed innocently, but anyone could easily tell she was faking it. "It's just that you haven't given me any assignments recently and I'm getting bored."

Veloci growled. "Oh you'll live. Find some other way to entertain yourself."

Oscura folded her arms again. "I did have a way to do that with Michelle, but she's no longer with us, now is she?"

Veloci growled again but didn't bother to answer. He had more important things on his mind. This was a reason why, at one time, he had preferred Michelle over Oscura. Michelle, though less aggressive, acted more mature than Oscura. Michelle would act more serious and didn't complain so much when she had nothing to do. Oscura, on the other hand, wasn't much of a joy to be around when she went for a long time without anything to do. He guessed it was because she was impatient and wanted her mind to be constantly occupied with a task.

After a bit of silence, Oscura uncrossed her arms and let them relax at her sides. "So what do you have planned?"

Veloci answered, "Nothing for the moment. I need to wait until I learn as much as I can about these new dinosaurs before I attempt to recreate them with primordial ooze."

Oscura cocked an eyebrow. "What? Didn't your last attempt fail?"

"Yes. I'm quite aware of that." Veloci hissed. He quickly regained his composure. "Which is why I am going to need to perform increased experimentations with the primordial ooze to create a batch that won't harm fossils. My earlier batches, from before I obtained the 'perfect dinosaur' DNA, didn't harm fossil, but, for some reason, after adding the dinosaur DNA to the mix, it causes a reaction that destroys the bone." He tilted his eyes upward in a thoughtful way. "I'll need to find a way to fix that problem before I attempt to use the stuff on fossils again."

Oscura chuckled lightly. She was sometimes amused by the experiments Veloci would do recently. "And which of your men will be the lucky contestants?" Recently, due to interferences from the Dino Squad, Veloci has performed many recent experiments with his primordial ooze on his own men in the safety of Raptor Dyne.

"I won't need any human for this. Or animal for that matter." Veloci said. "What I need are fossils. Useless fossils, ones that I won't care about if they are destroyed or not." He stopped as he stood in front of a large computer monitor, the same one he had used before when he was trying to find the 'human accomplices'.

"And what would that be?" Oscura asked.

Veloci turned to her. "Ancient mammalian fossils."

Footsteps could be heard as someone approached Veloci from the side. The figure was dressed in the typical Raptor Dyne outfit, but the helmet was gone, showing the easily recognizable face of Zoom. Veloci had forced both him and Ryan to join Raptor Dyne.

"I didn't know you were interested in mammalian fossils." Zoom commented nonchalantly, smirking. He immediately became quiet when Veloci turned to glare at him.

"You'd be wise to watch your mouth, human." Veloci warned him. "Or would you want to be part of yet another experiment?"

Zoom shook his head and smiled nervously. "No thank you." He said as he started to take a couple steps back. "I just never thought you would want anyone to get mammal fossils."

"If I had a choice, I wouldn't." Veloci said, not doing anything to hide his apparent disgust of the idea. "But this is one of those rare times mammals will actually be useful in my plans."

"And just who are you sending out?" Zoom asked, trying to sound calm.

Veloci paused for a moment to think. He didn't like the idea of sending Zoom or Ryan out to do anything. They still needed to prove their worth to him before he allowed them to even set foot outside of Raptor Dyne. He thought of Oscura, but her violent tendencies may make the mission more difficult. Kista is a possibility, but he wasn't entirely sure. However, there was still one other person he could send.

"Zoom, go find Peter for me." Veloci said as he interlocked his fingers. "And tell him I have a special task in mind for him."

sss

"Did you hear the news today?" Mrs. Maxwell said. She was sitting at the dinner table, cutting up her piece of steak. She was looking at her son, Max, when she spoke. "There was a recent murder."

Max, who was in the process of eating a spoonful of vegetables, glanced over at his mother. He swallowed the food and said, "No I haven't heard of any murder. Where did it happen?"

"Somewhere in town." Mrs. Maxwell responded.

Max's eyes widened slightly. He briefly wondered if any of his friends were the victims, but he mentally shook the thought out of his mind. If they could handle a prehistoric velociraptor bent on world domination, they could handle a single murderer. Still, the thought of a murderer being in Kittery Point was worrying him. He looked down at his plate and wondered if he wanted to finish eating.

Mr. Maxwell looked a bit upset with his wife. "Do you always need to bring up bad news while we're having supper? I just want to enjoy my steak, not worry about who died today."

"Well I'm sorry." Mrs. Maxwell said, though her town of voice showed she wasn't being very sincere. "I was just trying to make conversation."

Max, who wasn't feeling very hungry anymore, placed his fork on the table and turned to his mom. "What did they say about the murder?"

His mom said, "They found a body ripped to shreds in the woods earlier today. Organs strewn all over the place. They aren't actually sure if it was a murder or not. Some say a wild animal did it, perhaps a black bear. But others are saying some insane person did it."

Max flinched at the thought of body parts all over the forest floor. Mr. Maxwell, apparently tired of hearing his wife's gruesome story and feeling concerned for his son's well being, said, "That's enough talk of that. There'll be no more discussion of murder for the rest of the night."

Max, feeling a bit relieved at his dad's intervention, immediately got up from the table. "Well I'll excuse myself now and get to bed."

His mom looked over at him, confused. "Tired already? It's only about seven."

"Early to bed, early to rise." Max said as he disappeared from the dining room.

sss

The next day at school, Max relayed the information to his teammates during their lunch hour. They all looked shocked that a gruesome murder occurred so close to where they lived. While opinions on what could be behind the murder varied, one opinion they all shared was that Veloci wasn't involved. They saw very little reason for Veloci to want to dismember a human and leave them out in the open. It wouldn't further his goals any.

They also agreed that they should inform Moynihan as soon as possible. If there was a chance that a mutantsaur was responsible, they would need to find out quickly before the animal was shot, risking further contamination if it were eaten by other animals. Another bad thing that could happen is the animal could be caught and its DNA tested, which might expose primordial ooze to the public. They agreed that if primordial ooze were revealed to the public, it could create more problems than it could potentially solve.

"I sure hope an animal wasn't responsible." Buzz said softly. He rested his arms on the cold, flat table. "I don't like the idea of allowing another man with a gun to shoot another wild animal."

"I don't like the idea either, Buzz, but you know that's only done to avoid further conflict." Fiona explained.

"Yes I know." Buzz said. "Still..."

"We don't even know if it was an animal. For all we know, it was just some random nutjob who had apparently had nothing better to do but rip the body apart." Michelle chimed in. "The only way we'd be able to find out what it was is if we find the body and examine it for ourselves, or we could wait until the biopsy report is done and they release the information in the newspaper."

Buzz turned to her. "How messed up would someone have to be to do something like that?"

Michelle smirked slightly at Buzz. "You and I both know there's a lot of people out there who are like that."

Buzz knew Michelle was right, but sometimes he wished she wasn't so blunt about it. While he liked her, there were times when she would do something that would bother him. Michelle was, most of the time, a sympathetic person, but once in a while, her somewhat colder, sometimes sarcastic side would show up, more often when she is frustrated or upset. Regardless of that, though, the team still valued her input.

Michelle continued, "Anyway I'm sure this is just an isolated incident. The odds of a similar crime like this happening again in this same area are slim. And we all pretty much agreed that Veloci isn't behind this whole thing."

"It doesn't matter if Veloci was involved or not." Max said, looking over at Michelle. "The point is someone was murdered in this town. Don't you care about that?"

Michelle shook her head. "I never said I didn't care. I'm just saying that there might not be another murder like this again in this own."

"Unless a serial killer were involved." Rodger pointed out.

Michelle glared at him. "Do you have to be such a downer?"

Rodger said, "But it's the truth. If a serial killer is involved, then who knows who else will be killed?"

"Did they ever identify the body?" Caruso asked cautiously.

"No, at least not yet." Max explained. "The body was apparently too torn up to be identified and there was no ID on the body. So they have to wait for DNA results."

Terri said, "Perhaps I could go check to see if I can identify the body."

Max immediately shook his head and narrowed his eyes slightly at her. "Two problems with that, Terri. First, the body was moved and taken somewhere so they can analyze the blood. And second, I don't think they will allow a baryonyx into a building."

Terri frowned. "Come on, this is one of those times where a great sense of smell will be helpful!"

Max raised his hand. "Enough. Just because you can morph now doesn't mean you can go dino whenever you want to. And don't forget, transforming will make you visible to Veloci, and when he sees that you are alone, he may have his men go after you."

Terri sighed softly. "Yeah I know." Recently, due to an accident, she was exposed to primordial ooze and gained a baryonyx form. But despite being able to transform, the team tried to restrict her from doing so as often as possible for her own safety. They were worried she'd go dino and go somewhere by herself, making her an easy target for Veloci.

Buzz said, "So...which one of us is going to tell Ms. Moynihan?"

Being leader and feeling like he should accept the responsibility, Max got up. "I'll go tell her."

"Now?" Caruso asked. "But lunch isn't over yet. We aren't allowed to just wander the halls, you know."

Max grabbed his plate and lifted it off the table. "No not yet. I was just putting the tray away. I will inform Moynihan when we arrive at the lighthouse today." The others watched him as he walked away.

When he came back and sat down, Michelle looked at him intently. "Let us hope that, whatever it was that attacked that man, isn't going to come back anytime soon."

"But you were the one who said..." Max started to say.

"I'm aware of what I said." Michelle cut him off. "But it wouldn't hurt to remain cautious. That is something I learned while working at Raptor Dyne. Having your guard up is better than having it down." She looked at Max, then the other members of the team. "And trust me, I know this from experience. So hopefully, whatever attacked that man, was alone and isn't planning on coming back."

sss

At a facility in Kittery Point, two men, both dressed in white clothes, were standing close to a body, or what remained of it. The body, the same as the one Max heard about, was missing a lot of body parts, including an arm and both legs. The stomach cavity was ripped wide open, most of the organs missing. The head was crushed beyond recognition and the lower jaw was missing. It was a gruesome sight, but these two men, trained to deal with dead bodies and having been in many different cities, were used to scenes like this, although this was a tad more gruesome than other ones they've seen.

Next to the table with the body was a metallic tray filled with tools. One of the men grabbed a small Q-Tip and placed it inside what remained of the victim's mouth. He rubbed it lightly and gave the sample to his partner, who took it without question.

"Take that to the lab and analyze the saliva." The man ordered. The other man nodded and left the room.

The remaining man looked back at the body, his face scrunched up in disgust. "It's amazing that there exist people in this world who would do such a thing..." He looked the body up and down and shook his head. "And yet time after time, it's been proven that there are people like that, often in such gruesome ways."

He heard the door open behind them. "Who is it?" He asked without turning around.

"Don't tell me you don't recognize me. It's me, Dr. Axel!" The woman chuckled and smiled playfully. "Is your memory beginning to fail you, Stewart?" She asked light-heartedly.

Stewart failed to see the humor in Axel's statement. Frowning, he said, "This is no time to make a joke. There was a..."

"..murder yes. I was informed of that." Dr. Axel said.

"So why are you here?" Something then came to his mind. "And how did you get in here anyway? No one except certified staff is allowed back here."

Axel smiled slyly at him. "I have my ways." She leaned in close to Stewart.

The man moved away from Axel and turned his attention back towards the body. He had been in the same college as Axel and, at times, had worked with her until they chose vastly different fields to work in. Sometimes she would stop by to say hello to him and he did enjoy talking with her most of the time, but this was one of those times when he wasn't in the mood for her humor.

Dr. Axel approached him from behind. Her eyes looked at the corpse on the table. She looked at Stewart. "So..no luck in identifying the body?"

Steward shook his head. "Not yet. I sent my partner out to analyze the saliva. We should have results soon, but not today of course. It takes time, you know."

"Yes I know." Axel nodded her head.

"Anyway you should get out of here." Stewart pointed towards the door located in front of him. He looked at the woman. "I'm not sure what you did to convince the staff members to allow you in, but you should go before things get worse."

Dr. Axel frowned, but nodded her head. She seemed disappointed she had to leave early, but she understood the rules well enough. She waved goodbye to Stewart and opened the door. But before she closed it, she looked back at him and spoke in a low voice. "I think things may have already gotten worse."

Stewart looked confused. "What do you mean?" But it was too late. Axel had already shut the door behind her, leaving a baffled Stewart behind in the room. "What was she talking about...?" He asked himself quietly.

But he had more important things to focus on now. Dr. Axel's puzzling message would need to wait. He went back to the body. While his partner was delivering the saliva sample, he would work more on examining the wounds. This was his partner's specialty, but he would be back in a few minutes. There was no harm in starting without him.

He wanted to take a closer look at the wounds on the lower part of the body, where the legs were now just stumps. He could easily see a piece of bone sticking out of both of them and recognized it as what remained of the thigh bone. He leaned a bit closer to stare at the wound. He had initially believed the legs were sawed off by an amateur, but then something caught his eye, something he hadn't noticed before until now. The bone didn't look like it was sawed off, but rather chewed off.

If the bone was chewed off, that meant that an animal was the culprit. But he wasn't entirely positive on that. Perhaps a human made the kill and an animal had showed up to scavenge some parts. That would explain why body parts were missing. But now that he thought of it, he didn't see remains of a typical human attack. There were no clean slits or bullet wounds. He glanced at the crushed skull. Perhaps that was the killing blow. Perhaps the man's head was crushed under tremendous weight, like a truck, and that's what did the victim in. Stewart couldn't be certain until he analyzed the body some more.

He waited for his partner, Will, to come back while he examined the wounds on the body more. Further examination seemed to point towards an animalistic attack rather than human attack, but he wasn't willing to draw conclusions until he could discuss things more with Will. He wanted to show his findings to Will and listen to his input on it.

But when the minutes turned into an hour, he started to feel confused. It shouldn't have taken this long for him to deliver the sample. What could be keeping him? Perhaps Will was pulled over by a staff member to speak with him, perhaps about the body. That was the only thing that could be the problem. Will wasn't the type to just wander off like this.

Stewart walked over to the phone sitting at a desk that was attached to the wall. He dialed a number and it rang. He waited for someone to pick up. But after several moments and no one picking up, Stewart hung the phone. "That was odd. I guess they left early." No one picking up didn't really alarm Stewart. There was probably just no one at the desk at the moment, perhaps on a bathroom break. But instead of calling back, Stewart decided to go looking for Will himself. He exited the room behind him and locked the door.

He made his way down the hall, walls painted with white with a horizontal stripe in the middle. All the doors in the hallway were shut, just like he expected them to be. He looked up at the sign that showed him where the lab was. He went in that direction and walked up a flight of stairs. He turned left and went down another hallway. He could see the hallway turned right. The lab would be down that hallway. He came to the end of the hall and turned...and froze.

On the hard floor, he could clearly see blood stains. There was no blood anywhere else, just on the floor, and they looked like footprints, which lead into a room, and the door was wide open. This took Stewart by surprise. In most of his time working here, the doors were almost never left open. What else struck him as odd was the the lights were all off, putting the room in shadow. If no one was in there, then why was the room left open?

Considering that there were some new people that recently joined the building, he thought that someone had just cut themselves, left the lab and didn't close the door. It was hard to tell where the footprints were heading, but that is likely what happened.

He walked towards the room, being careful to avoid the blood stains on the ground, and entered the room. He flipped on a light and looked around. The room was devoid of any staff members, which didn't surprise him. He looked at the floor to see where the blood stains were coming from. He followed the blood stains and it took him to a corner in the room, behind a large desk. He frowned. That was unusual. That desk didn't usually carry any sharp tools. In fact, it was empty because the staff member who used to own the desk had left recently.

Walking over to the table, he looked over to see the origin of the blood trail. He was expecting to see a sharp tool with blood on it, having been dropped when the staff member accidentally cut himself, but instead he got a gruesome surprise. He let out a scream and almost stumbled backwards. On the ground, next to the chair, was the body of Will. The body was mutilated, the head and limbs ripped off and intestines hanging out from a large gash in the stomach. The only reason he knew it was Will was because the name tag was still on the bloodied shirt.

He looked around him and realized there were more blood stains. When he followed them, he came across more bodies. Most of them were located in one spot, as if the killer had piled them there to make room so he could get out. He quickly took notice of the smell of death that hung in the air and covered his nose. He quickly rain out of the room and down the stairs. At the base of the stairs, he leaned against the wall, breathing quickly.

When he caught his breath, he quickly went to the office where his boss would be, but when he opened the door, he was met with the same grisly image. His boss's body was torn apart, just like the other bodies were. He slowly backed out of the room, unsure of what to do. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone to dial for help.

But before he could dial any number, something whacked the phone out of his hand. He flinched in pain and held his hand, a red mark forming where he was struck. A shadow enveloped him and he could feel hot breath on the back of his neck. He looked around and saw a flash of yellow white, then something grabbed a hold of his head. Pain erupted from his skull as what felt like multiple thick needles bit into him and he closed his eyes tightly. He was pulled onto the ground, hitting it with a thud. Then something heavy stepped onto his chest. He managed to open his eyes and saw what looked like four large, bloodstained claws on his chest.

"What are y..." That was the last thing he managed to say before there was a loud crushing sound and his world went black.


	4. First Encounter

"Today, several workers at a local facility were found dead, ripped apart and mutilated. Police were tipped off by an anonymous emergency caller and arrived at the scene shortly after. The staff members that survived the assault claimed to have heard no noise while the attacks were going on. The attacks also seemed localized; only staff members working with the first victim course were killed..."

There was a brief pause, then the voice continued.

"I stand corrected. Most of the bodies found were staff members involved with dealing with the victim's body, but at least one of them, a high ranking boss, wasn't involved and was still killed. Whether or not the attacker's actions were deliberate or random, we can't say for sure. We'll report back to you live when we receive more details."

The screen screeched, and then went black, revealing the reflection of Veloci, who had been watching the bit of news. He had a smirk on his face and his fingers tapping each other.

"Very interesting...this may prove useful to me." Veloci commented to himself as he stared at the black screen. "Perfect.."

sss

"Oh my.." Moynihan said to herself and she looked through an article on one of her computers. The article was very recent, having been posted up only about an hour ago. It detailed the events at the local facility that claimed the lives of many workers there. It described how the bodies were ripped apart, many beyond recognition.

Moynihan knew she had to discuss this with her students. She couldn't help but feel Veloci was behind the assault. It was a risk-taker and she knew Veloci well enough that he would avoid dangerous risks if he could, but even that didn't completely rule him out. He may have wanted to start some kind of riot, perhaps as part of an elaborate plan to make the public fear the 'perfect dinosaurs' even more so, putting her students at risk of attack.

Knowing that her students were still in the lighthouse, she immediately got up from her seat and went towards the stairs. She took a few steps, but stopped when she heard another set of footsteps. She waited until she could clearly see who was making the noise.

"Max! I was just coming down to talk with you and the others." Moynihan said.

Max kept walking up until he was a few steps in front of the old woman. "Ms. M, I need to talk to you."

Moynihan nodded her head. "As do I, dear boy. There's been a recent attack in Kittery Point. Someone, or something, has slaughtered many employees, most of them having some role in examining the corpse found initially."

Max blinked. "You know about that?" Then the information Moynihan gave him began to sank in. His eyes widened. "There's been more attacks?" Moynihan nodded her head. "All executed in a gruesome fashion?" Moynihan once again nodded her head. Max placed his hand on his head. "Oh man..."

"I have a feeling Veloci may be behind this." Moynihan said.

Max looked confused. He looked at Ms. Moynihan. "Why would he do something like this? It's too risky."

She nodded her head. "True yes. But this seems like the sort of thing he'd do if he wanted to purposely stir up trouble." She sighed softly. "And with what happened recently, now that he knows who we are, he may be doing this to turn the public against us."

The boy frowned. "Well if that's his plan.."

Moynihan lifted a hand. "Not now, Max. Let's speak with the others first and from there figure out a plan." Max nodded his head and he and Moynihan made their way down the stairs together.

When they reached the living room, they found the rest of the Dino Squad sitting around quietly, being patient. When they realized that Max had returned, they all turned to look at him and Moynihan as they slowly entered the living room. They remained quiet as Max and Moynihan sat down in their usual spots. Moynihan took a few extra seconds to adjust herself on her favorite chair and placed her cane next to her seat. Once that was done, she turned her attention to her students.

"I'm sure you kids have heard about the latest murders, haven't you?" Moynihan said. Except for Max who already knew, the teenagers looked shocked by this information. "Yes, I'm afraid there's been more than one murder now. Many employees at the local medical facility have been killed, all of them in similar gruesome ways as the first victim. Most employees killed were involved in examining the body, giving the appearance the attacks were deliberate and planned ahead, as if whoever or whatever did it didn't want anyone finding out about what killed that first victim. However I'm thinking that Veloci may be the orchestrator of this attack. He may have arranged this somewhat as part of an elaborate scheme to turn the public against us and make it more likely for us to be attacked whenever we go dino."

"That seems like something Veloci would do. But that still seems like too big a risk. Wouldn't that mean that Veloci himself would also be at risk? After all, he does morph more times than you do, Ms. M." Terri said almost immediately.

Moynihan became quiet and took that into consideration. Terri did just make a valid point. Why would Veloci want to do something like this if it means putting risk to himself as well? That didn't seem like the velociraptor she knew for so long. "Good point, Terri. Would you mind offering your input on the situation then?"

Terri shook her head. "I'm afraid I got nothing. Until we find out more details about these attacks, I'm afraid I can't come up with anything." She was about to ask someone else what they thought, but then something came to her mind. "Wait..there is something. Didn't you say that the people who were killed were almost all exclusively those who had been working on the body?"

Moynihan said, "Yes, that is true. I also said that it gives the impression that, whoever or whatever was behind the attacks, didn't want them to find out information about the body."

"That seems to tell me two things." Terri said, holding up a finger. "It tells me that the attacker is a human. I can't see any animal doing something like this. It seems too perfectly planned to have been done by an animal, especially considering the circumstances. Think about it. Can you imagine an animal coming up with a master plan to get revenge on humans it never met before?" The others shook their heads. Terri nodded. "Just as I thought. The second thing it tells me is that there may be more of a motivation than simply trying to prevent anyone from learning about the attack. The murderer may have been trying to recover the body, perhaps hide it somewhere. Did you find out if the initial body was missing, Ms. Moynihan?"

"No I did not." Moynihan said. "They didn't reveal that information yet."

"If the body is missing, then that supports my theory that the attacker's main goal was removing the body from the facility to hide it elsewhere." Terri said.

"The question is, if it's not Veloci doing this, then who would be doing such a terrible thing?" Rodger asked.

"Well knowing Veloci, despite the consequences, I wouldn't be surprised if he would do this." Caruso said bitterly and placed a hand on his left cheek. "I'll never forget what he did to me." The others nodded to him sympathetically. Memories of the horrible human bridle and Veloci's cruelty towards him were still deeply burned into his mind.

"What do you think we should do, Ms. M?" Max asked, gesturing towards the old woman.

Moynihan paused for a moment to think. She wasn't entirely sure herself of what they should do about the situation. She did think of having the kids investigate, but she didn't want to risk putting them in danger. What if whoever, or whatever, was responsible came back and killed them? She wouldn't be able to live with herself if that were the case.

Then again, she understood that not trying to find out information could be just as risky. It was possible the authorities wouldn't be able to figure out what it was in time; more bodies could be found by tomorrow for all she knew. Within a very short time frame, several bodies had already been slaughtered with no clue on who or what was responsible.

She looked back at Max, who was looking at her, waiting for an answer. Moynihan opened her mouth and shut it. She couldn't bring herself to give an answer, afraid of giving the wrong one. She sighed and looked away. "I..I don't know."

"You don't..know?" Max echoed as if he was wondering if he heard right. Moynihan answered by nodding her head once. Max sighed as well and leaned forward. "We can't have that kind of answer. We need a definitive answer. This isn't the kind of situation for indecisive answers."

"Yes I know that." Ms. Moynihan said, her voice slightly more stern.

"Then why can't you give us a straight answer?" Max asked, straightening himself up. "We'll stand by whatever decision you make."

"I think it's best we wait about a day or two and see if anymore details come forth." Moynihan said finally after being quiet for several moments. She made a quick adjust to her glasses, then frowned. "At this point, it's too much of a risk to send you kids out to investigate. It's too dangerous." Her frown softened and she closed her eyes. "I don't want to risk losing you kids again." There was a nod amongst the team; they understood what she was talking about. Moynihan looked back up at them. "Until I say otherwise, do not be running off anywhere. Once you leave school, either come straight here or go home right away. Do not do anything else. Do you understand me?"

"Yes we do." Max said. "Don't we guys?"

"Of course we do." Rodger said. The remaining teens nodded in agreement.

Ms. Moynihan smiled. "That's good."

Just then, a steady sound could be heard. It was soft, faint, yet still audible. It carried on in short intervals, repeating itself seemingly infinitely. This wasn't a sound they were unfamiliar with. In fact, they knew the sound very well. They looked at each other, and didn't bother to say anything. They immediately got up from their seats and headed up towards the top of the lighthouse and into the area where their monitoring equipment was. They gathered around a large radar screen.

Moynihan made her way over, gently pushing the students out of the way so she could have access to the radar. The screen was green with lighter green rings. Flashing on the screen, in a corner, was a small red dot. The radar was long range and it was in a less detailed view. With a press of a button, the screen transformed into a map of Maine, shaded in green. The red dot was located near the edge of Maine.

Moynihan looked over at the students. "The scanner's detected something. It's located near the tide pools, the same place where you kids got your powers."

"Why would Veloci want to do another experiment there?" Fiona said. "He usually doesn't repeat experiments in the exact same place."

Buzz looked at her. "That's not always true. Remember when he tricked us into going into that park with reappearing mutantsaurs and unleashed that robot on us?"

Fiona nodded. "Yes, that's true.." She rubbed a finger against her chin. "But it's still rare."

Moynihan looked back at the radar. She wasn't sure if this was even one of Veloci's experiments. She pressed a key to get details on what the scanner picked up. It wouldn't give her much, but she might be able to make something out from the readings. When the details came into view, she spent a few moments reading the information. Her eyes widened slightly.

There was something different about the readings. They didn't share any data she was familiar with with Veloci's experiments. The signature didn't even match that of a mutantsaur, yet the scanner still picked it up. That was unusual, but still troublesome. The only other thing that could set off the radar that wasn't a mutantsaur was a dinosaur. Could Veloci have perfected the primordial ooze? Had he created a perfect dinosaur of his own and sent it out to Maine?

"These signals are not what I would expect from a mutantsaur." She announced, realizing the students had gone quiet to await her input. She turned back to them. "Whatever this thing is, it's no mutantsaur."

"But..the only other thing that could set off the scanner would be..." Rodger started to say.

"A dinosaur." Michelle finished for him. "A perfect dinosaur."

Terri bit her lip. "Do you think it's possible that insane reptile has perfected that slimy ooze?"

Michelle closed her eyes. "I would not doubt it. I'm sure that, ever since he obtained DNA samples from the original five Dino Squad members, he had spent hours obsessively trying to perfect the ooze."

"It's already hard enough to de-ooze the animals. Now we have to worry about actual dinosaurs too?" Caruso said, spreading his arms out. "That's crazy!"

"Crazy but true." Michelle said, turning her head towards him. "Unless you can think of anything else that can set off the scanners."

"Maybe it's just Oscura?" Caruso suggested. "She has a perfect dinosaur form. So does Kista and Peter. Maybe Veloci sent one of them to the tide pools for some reason?"

"But what use would they have at the tide pools? There's not much there. Well there are some sea animals there, but he could easily sent his own men there rather than his dinosaur-transforming members." Max said thoughtfully.

Moynihan listened to the students as she tried to think of what to do. Now she was presented with a new situation. Just like before, she wasn't sure what she should have the kids do. This was in a field they were more familiar with, and yet not knowing exactly what was on the scanners made her feel uneasy about sending them out. It could be Peter, Oscura, or Kista; they would show up on the radar. But there was still a chance that it was a new perfect dinosaur. And since she was not interested in resurrecting dinosaurs, only Veloci could be responsible for it.

She finally made up her mind. "Get in the SUV. We're going down to the tide pools."

Max looked at her, surprised. "But I thought you said..."

"Yes I know what I said, and I understand your confusion." Moynihan replied. "However, we are not the police. They will handle the murder case for now. But we are the ones who deal with potentially dangerous situations Veloci conducts. We are the only ones who know how to handle this kind of situation. Whatever it is that's at the tide pools..." She looked at each of her students. "..we best get there before anyone else finds it. Who knows what could happen then."

The tide pools hadn't changed much since the last time they were there. The cliff side behind them hid the sun partially, allowing them to avoid the harsh glare easily so they can make out the terrain better. The sand was soft and squishy, something that was to be expected from an area that was right next to the water. Small waves gently splashed against what could be made out to be a beach. Out ahead, on the horizon, they could see the ocean. It seemed to go on forever. They could see bright reflections where the sun was shining.

sss

The tide pools brought back memories. This was where they first got their dinosaur powers from primordial ooze that littered the area. While the water was long free of ooze, they still could pick out the spot where the ooze was. There was a device floating in the water where Rump was swimming by when he had stolen Caruso's jacket. If it weren't for that dog, they would have not gotten their dinosaur forms. Not everyone shared this same origin, however. Michelle was in a different part of the tide pool while Terri had gotten her powers by different means.

Moynihan, who had decided to come with in hopes of having a chance to protect her students in case of an attack, held a small scanner in her hands. Usually Rodger did, but she insisted on using it herself this time. She glanced at the screen, using the radar and the red dot to guide herself to the source. She pointed out ahead. "It's over there, behind that boulder."

In front of the group was a large, stiff-looking mass. It was in the shade, the darkness covering it entirely. Despite this, they could tell the boulder was unusually colored. The colors seem to shift more sharply and dramatically than in any boulder they know of. Oh well, they didn't need to worry about that. They needed to figure out what was setting off the radar. The group started to make their way towards the boulder.

Suddenly Rump, who had tagged along, ran forward towards the boulder, barking excitedly at the thing. He sniffed a few times, snarled, and barked some more, as if the boulder was somehow alive.

Fiona ran forward and grabbed Rump. "What's with you? It's just a big piece of rock."

It was Buzz who first noticed something was very wrong. He took a few steps back and pointed. "I hate to burst your bubble, Fiona, but that's no rock..."

Fiona looked back and didn't see anything at first. "What are you talking about?"

"I swear I saw it move." Buzz said.

"That's ridiculous! Boulders can't move!" Fiona frowned at Buzz like he was crazy and turned back to the boulder. She took a few steps toward it and patted it with one hand. "See? It's soft!" She realized what she just said. She looked back at the boulder with a shocked expression. "It's..soft..." She took a few steps back. The others ran up next to her, except Moynihan.

The old woman was looking at the boulder in disbelief. There was no way a boulder could be soft. Whatever the mass was, it was no boulder. She shouted, "Get away from there! Now!"

The students ran back as the boulder suddenly shifted, what appeared to be muscles flexing underneah its skin. It rose up from the ground on four muscular legs. A large head rose up into the air and a long tail swished from side to side. The boulder was actually some kind of animal.

"What is that..?" Buzz asked in a soft voice.

"It...it looks like a dinosaur..." Terri said as she looked the creature up and down. "But not any dinosaur I had ever heard of before."

The animal's head turned to look at them. The face was reptilian, looking similar to Moynihan and Veloci's velociraptor heads. Sharp teeth poked through from the top jaw. What looked like a mane went along the back of the animal's neck. The eyes glowed bright yellow, similar to their dinosaur forms. The animal seemed to realize it had company because it started to pivot its large body, which was easily larger than Moynihan and Veloci in their velociraptor forms.

It lowered its head as it stared at the group of humans standing before it, taking a few steps forward. As light shined on its body, it was clear it was not brown, but instead purple. A red blotch of coloring was noticeable on its chest. A strange X-shaped scar was on its left shoulder. It took a step forward and remained uncomfortably quiet.

"What should we do?" Buzz asked.

"We should try to de-ooze it. It's probably just a mutantsaur." Fiona said in a somewhat relieved tone. She had a chiller in her hands. She looked over at Max, who had the spiller. "Shall we?"

"Yes." Max responded.

He and Fiona took a few steps towards the strange animal. The creature stared back at them, tilting its head like it was curious as it looked at the odd equipment in their hands. It pulled its head back in surprise when the equipment was pointed at it, but it did not attack. Fiona sprayed the animal with the chiller, causing it to shiver uncontrollably. She looked over at Max and nodded. Max used the spiller to suck up the liquid that now covered the animal's body to remove the mutant DNA. Everyone waited for the animal to change back, but, to their shock, it didn't happen.

The animal, obviously annoyed at being sprayed, opened its jaws part way and hissed softly. It took a few steps closer to Max and Fiona, snapping its jaws a few times. The two teens immediately moved back to the group. The animal seemed satisfied and stopped its advancement. But it continued to growl softly and refused to run off.

"It didn't work..." Fiona murmured softly in disbelief.

"This is one strong patch of primordial ooze..." Max commented, not taking his eye of the animal. "How are we ever going to de-ooze this mutant?"

Just then, the animal did something nobody had expected it to do. It opened up its jaws and, instead of a hiss, growl, or roar, words came out of its mouth. "I am not a mutant." The voice was clearly feminine. "So don't call me that." No telekinesis, instead the animal spoke verbally.

The group was stunned. Even Moynihan didn't know what to say. They had never encountered a talking mutantsaur before, except for Cerulean, Moynihan's bird.

After an awkward silence, Max, who seemed to have worked up the courage to speak, said, "What else could you be, if not a mutantsaur?"

"That is none of your business." The creature said, her voice stern.

Rump, who had started barking since the animal had moved, ran forward towards the animal. The purple creature hissed at the dog. Rump barked and snapped at her, running around in circles around her as if he was trying to herd her. The purple animal was clearly not amused. She lifted up a four-clawed paw and struck down. Rump barely dodged.

Fiona, her eyes wide in horror, called out to him. "Rump! Get back here!"

Rump's ears twitched and he looked back at Fiona, but that was a smart move to make while standing within range of the strange animal. The dog suddenly felt himself be lifted up into the air, jaws holding him tightly. The creature held him up high, her jaw muscles tensing up as she began to crush the dog.

"Rump!" Fiona called out.


	5. Threat Named

The animal bit down harder, her teeth easily penetrating the dog's furry skin. Blood dripped from her jaws and stained the sandy ground. Rump whined painfully and attempted to bite the animal. But his head would not reach. In response to Rump's attempted attack, the animal began to slam her head against the ground, striking Rump with great force. A small pool of blood appeared on the ground. Rump let out a loud yelp.

Fiona started to rush towards the creature, shouting, "Leave him alone!"

Rump's whines slowly gave way to growls as his body began to glow. He rapidly grew in size. The creature was not expecting this and her eyes widened. The fully transformed Rump caused her to open her jaws wider. While holding the mutated dog was not too much of a problem for an animal her size, the dog's strength had increased and she was clearly having a more difficult time holding him.

Rump managed to clamp down on the purple creature's snout, causing her to release him. She brought a paw to her face and wiped at the blood now trickling down her snout. Almost a second later, she felt something solid slam against her, and she was thrown back several feet. She shook her head and looked up and found herself looking at the face of an enraged spinosaurus.

'Back off, you...whatever you're supposed to be!' Fiona opened her jaws and hissed loudly. Rump stood next to her, still in his mutantsaur form, barking at the strange, purple creature.

The animal simply stared at Fiona, showing no signs of feeling threatened. Not even the exposure of teeth caused her to react in a frightened manner. She merely put a paw on Fiona's snout without hesitation and pushed it downward so she was looking at Fiona in the eyes. "Trust me, you don't want to pick a fight with me. You'll only end up losing."

Fiona's eyes narrowed. 'How can you be so confident about that?'

The animal simply smiled. "I just know these things. So why don't you all do yourselves a favor and leave?"

Moynihan spoke up. "Fiona, get back here!"

Fiona turned her head towards Moynihan. 'But she...'

"No buts! We don't know anything about this creature." Moynihan explained. She took a few steps forward, but constantly kept a wary eye on the strange animal. "It's not wise to automatically start fights based on assumptions. I'm upset she attacked Rump too, but she only did that out of self defense. Let's get to know her and her species first before we try something we may regret."

Fiona seemed unsure. She looked over at the creature and back at Moynihan. She seemed to have difficulty deciding on what to do.

Max took a step forward. "Ms. Moynihan is right, Fiona. Let's try to give this...thing a chance before we fight her."

Fiona hissed softly and changed back into her human form. Rump transformed back as well as Fiona scooped him up into her arms. She was careful to avoid his injuries. She glared at Moynihan and Max. "I hope you two know what you're doing."

Max nodded. "I hope we do, too."

After seeing what happened, the other members of the squad took a fighting stance, except for Max and Moynihan. They weren't going to give the strange creature any opportunity to catch them off guard. The creature stared at them, tilted her head as though she were curious, but the same, calm expression was on her face. This didn't surprise any of them considering that she stared into the eyes of a spinosaurus without flinching.

"What should we do?" Michelle asked, flexing her fingers like she would if she were in dino mode. Her voice sounded tense. "That animal looks like she's a strong fighter."

Rodger said, "Don't attack unless Moynihan says otherwise."

"I don't trust that creature, though. She attacked Rump." Michelle looked at the blood on the ground and on Rump's fur.

Rodger turned to her. "That sounds familiar, don't you think?"

"Don't remind me." Michelle simply said. She looked over at Buzz and Terri. "What do you guys think?"

Buzz didn't bother turning his head, as if he were afraid by looking away the animal would suddenly attack. "I'm not sure if I want to give this creature a chance. She could be working for Veloci for all we know. She had to have been created by primordial ooze. There's no other way she could be here."

Terri glanced over at him. "But technically we all got our powers from primordial ooze. Doesn't that make us Veloci's creations?"

Buzz's expression softened. "Yeah, that's true. Still, there's just something about her personality that I don't like."

"Great minds think alike." Michelle commented in a soft, grumbling voice. She shook her head slowly. "I really hope Moynihan didn't just make a huge mistake by calling back Fiona like that."

"True, but she usually knows what she's doing, so I don't think we need to worry about that." Terri said, although she was still tense.

Moynihan approached the creature, but still kept a respectable distance from her. She wasn't entirely sure herself if she made the right choice or not. But she wasn't the type of person who would attack first, then ask questions. She wanted to give the creature the benefit of the doubt before she would label her an enemy. She would be no better than Veloci if she condemned someone so quickly.

She looked the creature up and down. It did look like a dinosaur, but none that she had ever seen before. In the back of her mind, she remembered details of the newly discovered dinosaur species. This creature seemed to fit the basic description, but how was that possible? The fossils found were millions of years old, but this animal was obviously still alive and couldn't have been alive for that long. Then again, she and Veloci were around for millions of years, so she couldn't completely dismiss that theory.

"Who are you?" She asked, hoping to get the animal in a better mood. The animal had hissed when she approached her.

Snorting, the purple animal said, "Why should I tell you anything, you old woman?" She licked her snout, cleaning up some of the blood that resulted from Fiona's assault. "Your students have already made their stand very clear. They don't want me here."

Moynihan nodded. "Yes, I understand that. But I'm sure we can work things out. Fiona was just protecting Rump, as I'm sure you were just protecting yourself. Can't we give each other a second chance? I'm sure we can get along just fine."

The purple animal still didn't seem too happy. She raised her head up high and said, "My boss wouldn't approve of that."

"Your boss?" Moynihan asked, perplexed.

The animal nodded. "He sent me out here to scout the terrain. He also wanted to me to keep an eye out for any...unusual activity."

"I knew it!" Buzz snapped, rushing forward. He stopped near Moynihan and pointed at the purple creature, who responded by snapping her jaws a few times. "I knew you worked for Veloci!"

Moynihan looked at Buzz, a shocked expression on her face. "Buzz!"

The creature briefly wore an expression of confusion, but it was soon replaced with that of amusement. She sat down on her haunches like a dog, reared up so that her front paws hung off the ground, and laughed. Her laughter intermingled with a growling sound, making her laugh sound more menacing. Buzz growled softly.

"Humans, you always like to jump to conclusions." The creature said after she had calmed down. She held a paw at her said, turned so that the bottom of her paw could be seen. She gestured with the paw in a similar manner as a human as she spoke. "But you never stop to think before you conclude something. What may appear to be one thing could perhaps be another. I can assure you I do not know this Veloci person you are speaking of, so stop jumping to conclusions." She got up, walked up to Buzz, and lowered her head so her face was close to his. "This includes you."

"Buzz." Moynihan said before the boy could react. "Step back. I'll handle her." Buzz did as he was told, but he didn't take his eyes off the purple creature.

"I do hope you know what you are doing, old woman." The purple creature said, a tiny hint of a smile on her jaws. "Making a mistake with my people can be...well let's say you never want to make a mistake with us."

Moynihan narrowed her eyes. "Why are you threatening me? I didn't do anything to you."

The purple creature tilted her head. "Threaten you? I did no such thing. I was simply warning you. It appears you and your students know nothing about my kind." She lowered her head. "It would be a shame if they learned the dire consequences the hard way." She exposed her teeth.

Instinctively, Moynihan's eyes started to glow. This was a characteristic that has become common since her ordeal with Veloci. She didn't attack, however, and instead remained where she was. "I will ask you again. Who are you?"

The creature smirked. "Do you think you can get my name that easily?"

"It's a simple question." Moynihan affirmed. "What harm would revealing your name be?"

"I'd lose my anonymity if I do. And I can't have that." The creature said.

Moynihan sighed. She figured she wasn't going to get a name out of the creature. "Well can you at least tell me the name of your species?"

The animal stood there for a few moments, her eyes closed as she seemed to think about the answer. She reopened her eyes. "I suppose that couldn't hurt. And if I don't tell you, I'm sure you humans are going to be scratching your heads trying to figure it out." She chuckled. "We call ourselves..alimons."

"Alimon? That's an unusual name." Rodger commented softly.

Caruso looked at him, smiling. "Says the guy who gives unusually long names to devices."

The creature, an alimon, lowered her head so it was at level with her back. Her tail swished from side to side. "We alimons are powerful predators. If you would like a live demonstration..." She licked her jaws. "I'd be happy to supply that."

Moynihan took a step back. "Why do you insist on being difficult? I'm trying to make nice with you, but you keep thwarting my attempts. We don't need to fight!"

The alimon blinked and lifted her head. She began to walk towards the old woman. She circled her constantly, like a vulture that found a dead animal. "Then it's very obvious you don't know how my boss is like. He wouldn't approve of me making nice to you." She lifted her tail and gently rubbed it against Moynihan's throat. She pushed gently, tilting the woman's head slightly upward. The alimon then turned her neck so her jaws were next to Moynihan's head. "In fact I would get punished for it."

Moynihan pushed the tail away. "Is that so?"

The alimon nodded her head. "Yes."

"And why is that?" Max had moved forward. "Why would your boss be upset by avoiding a conflict?"

The alimon turned to the boy. "Because my boss likes conflicts." She turned back to Moynihan. "He would rather I fight you than make friends with you."

"Why?" Moynihan exclaimed. "What can you accomplish by fighting me?"

The alimon smirked. "Power and control. That's what I can get out of it."

Suddenly, the alimon lunged forward, her paws held out in front of her. Moynihan had no time to react. She was pushed into the ground by the large, purple animal, hitting her back hard. Moynihan looked up as the alimon lifted a paw, its claws glinting in the light. Before the claws could hit their mark, a green, scaly arm shot up and held the paw up. The alimon pushed down harder, Moynihan barely able to keep the paw away from her head. In a few moments, Moynihan fully transformed into a velociraptor. Using her sickle claw, she managed to slash the underside of the alimon. As the creature took a few steps back, roaring in pain, she got back up onto her feet.

Moynihan snarled at the alimon, but hung back. 'I don't want to fight you.'

The alimon shook her head and roared. "That's funny, because I sure want to fight you!"

Just then, for the second time today, the alimon felt herself being knocked away. This time it wasn't Fiona. Instead Max, in tyrannosaurus form, had intervened. He stood protectively in front of Moynihan and let out a huge roar. But just like with Fiona, the alimon didn't seem fazed by Max's attempt to frighten her. As the others went into dino mode as well, the alimon still remained undeterred and unafraid. She simply looked at their forms with a smirk, as if she thought they were a bunch of weaklings.

"So you all want to play eh?" She chuckled. "Okay then, let's play!" With that, she dashed forward, mouth agape.

sss

"Sir, there's unusual readings on the radar." One of Veloci's men said.

Veloci walked up to the man, looking interested. He and the other man stood in front of a large, red-shaded monitor screen. Red had always been Veloci's favorite color. He glanced up at the screen and saw flashing dots moving around, indicating an extensive amount of activity.

Veloci said, "Zoom in on the location."

The man typed a few commands into the computer. Almost instantly, the screen started to zoom in. The screen zoomed in onto Maine, which didn't surprise Veloci. As details came into view, it didn't take him long to recognize the signatures of the Dino Squad. It looked like they were in some kind of battle. Veloci scanned the screen to find the source of their attacker. He finally found it, and it wasn't what he was expecting. He had expected one of his mutantsaurs that might have gotten out this way. But instead he was looking at something completely different. The image the radar was showing him looked similar to the skeleton that Axel had showed him.

"How interesting..." Veloci said, smirking.

The man next to him glanced over. "What is, sir?"

"The creature appears to be of the same species that Dr. Axel showed me earlier. Seems some of these creatures managed to survive the extinction, much like Moynihan, Kista, and I. And it appears it has engaged in combat with the pesky Dino Squad." Veloci said, tapping his fingers together. He looked over at his subordinate. "Keep the screen on. I want to see how this ends."

"Yes, sir." The man replied. He walked away to perform one of his other chores.

As Veloci watched the spectacle before him, someone approached him from behind. They moved slowly, as if they were trying to mask their footsteps. The figure stopped behind Veloci. A hand was slowly raised, and it gently touched Veloci's shoulder. Without a reaction, Veloci turned his head to see Kista standing behind him, her usual smile on her face. He snarled and turned away from her.

"Now, now, is that any way to treat an old friend?" Kista said playfully, removing her hand. "Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were being callow."

Veloci ignored Kista's statement. "Why aren't you performing your task?"

Kista frowned slightly, folded her arms, and leaned slightly to one side. "I did as you asked, Dr. Veloci, but I couldn't find this Dr. Axel anywhere."

Veloci turned to her. "Are you sure? By now she should be back at that museum."

"I just came from there. None of the employees had seen her return. They said they were used to it. Apparently the only reason they hadn't fired the rubicund reticule is because she still does a good job while she's there and always leaves behind notes of her findings." Kista said to Veloci. "Where she goes, they don't know, though I personally think she just has a second job. Probably needs the extra cash."

Veloci sighed. It seems he will have to wait before talking with Axel again. He had wanted to talk to her since he found out about the brutal murders. Before the radar confirmed that some of the strange creatures were still alive, he suspected the attacks may have been committed by one of these new dinosaurs. He wanted to talk to Axel about it and get her input. But that'll have to wait now.

Kista apparently noticed what was going on the screen. "The Dino Squad biting off more than they can chew?"

"I'm sure whatever is fighting them will do more than that." Veloci said.

Kista smirked. "Are you sure about that? The Dino Squad aren't as torpid as you may think, Veloci. Do not forget we had them captured and they nearly died, but they managed to beat us in the end."

Veloci growled. "That was only because that traitorous Michelle freed them."

"True, she did play apart." Kista said, taking a step closer. "But it's likely those children would have escaped anyway, somehow. How? I'm not sure. But I'm not about to dismiss the theory."

Veloci briefly thought about responding, but kept quiet. He wanted to focus more on the fight. He was amazed at how fast the creature moved. It seemed to be able to dodge attacks easily. It was still struck down several times, but it seemed to land more blows than the Dino Squad could. And what amazed him more is that it was taking them all on by itself. One against nine; unfair odds yet the creature was standing its ground.

"Kista." He said without looking away from the monitor. "Head down to Maine, to the tide pools where I dispatched my first primordial ooze that utilized Peter's nanomachines."

Kista said, "Whatever for? You want me to fight the Dino Squad too?"

Veloci shook his head. "Do not engage them. I just want you to observe, and see if you can capture that creature."

"All right then." Kista turned and walked away.

Veloci turned back to her and called out, "And hurry it up! There's no telling how long this battle will last!" Kista disappeared into the nearby elevator. Veloci turned back to the screen, watching to see what was going to happen next.


	6. Seeking Knowledge

None of them had been anticipating a fight to this extreme. They had never faced a mutantsaur that gave them this much trouble. They rarely encountered a mutantsaur that wanted to go this far to fight them. But now, here they are facing off against some creature who wanted really wanted to fight them. Not only that, but the creature did not have a very valid reason to want to fight them. The only reasons she gave were power and control; perhaps fun was also a possible reason.

They had seriously misjudged her capabilities. They thought that, with so many dino-morphers available, they could easily take her on. But this alimon creature clearly had experience fighting against large groups and knew what she was doing. She had a good reaction time and seemed to learn quickly. This quick wit of hers seemed to be her greatest asset in the fight.

The Dino Squad didn't understand why it was so hard to defeat her, even given her experience. They needed only to bite her or step on her and they could do serious, if not irreversible damage. But the alimon never gave them a chance to deal such damage. She usually found some method to get her out of harm's way if one of them got too close.

The opposite seemed to be true for the team. They were having a difficult time attacking the alimon. She seemed to know when to dodge and where. Granted, they were able to strike her several times, but not one of them did enough damage to disable her. While she hasn't done serious damage to them yet, they had a feeling that she could do far worse if she wanted to.

Rodger, in styracosaurus form, charged forward, his head lowered. The alimon was right in front of him, staring as he got closer. At the last second, she leaped into the air, landed on his back, and jumped off again. Startled, Rodger nearly tripped over his feet trying to stop charging. He looked over just as the alimon bit down on his snout. Rodger bellowed in pain and the alimon released her grip and jumped back, smirking arrogantly.

From behind her, Caruso, in stegosaurus form, kicked up dirt and snorted. He charged towards the alimon, baring his teeth. When he got close enough, he turned to his side and swung his tail on the ground. The alimon managed to jump in the air to avoid the attack. Thinking fast, however, Caruso struck with his tail again while the alimon was still the air. Unable to avoid the tail, the alimon screeched as the tail slammed against her and knocked her several feet across the sandy ground.

Having recovered from the attack, Rodger charged her again. Unlike before, he managed to strike her this time. He thrust his head upwards, tossing her up in the air. She came crashing down a little ways to the side. She landed on her back and lay prone on the ground for several seconds.

Buzz, pteranodon form, swooped in, his talons brought forward as he prepared to attack the creature's underside. But he had miscalculated how long the alimon would remain still. When he got too close, the alimon grabbed him with a front paw, which obviously functioned like a hand. Buzz flapped his wings frantically to try to get away, but the alimon pulled him down onto the ground, his underside exposed. She opened her jaws and bit down onto his chest. Buzz let out a screech of pain.

She lifted him up off the ground, shook him a few times, and tossed him away. She then leaped onto his body and bit down on his wings, clearly intending on breaking them. But before she could bite down hard enough, Terri, who was currently in baryonyx form, snagged the alimon in her long jaws and tossed her aside. When the alimon crashed into the ground, she almost immediately felt the weight of Michelle on her back and roared as Michelle, in guanlong form, bit down into the back of her neck. Michelle dug her claws into the alimon's skin, hoping to keep herself from falling off.

The alimon violently shook her body from side to side, hoping to knock Michelle off with her body weight. When that didn't work, she did something else that Michelle hadn't anticipated. The alimon reared up and fell down onto her back. The combined gravity and weight of her fall stunned Michelle, causing her to release her grip. The alimon got off and looked down at the girl, who was still stunned from the unexpected blow. Smirking, the alimon seized her by the head and threw her into the cliff face. She then turned her attention back to Buzz.

Terri had positioned herself between Buzz and the alimon, She brandished her large sickle claws that were located on her hand and hissed loudly at the alimon. But the alimon still wasn't fazed. She simply looked up at the baryonyx and smirked again. She charged for Terri, who responded by dashing towards her as well. The alimon tried to move to the side, but Terri struck down with her hand, her sickle claw slicing into the alimon's side. The alimon recovered form the blow and hissed. She turned and dashed towards Terri and bit into her leg, causing Terri to fall onto her side. The alimon walked up to her, jaws snapping with ferocity.

Just then, she felt someone else jump on her back. She turned her head and, in the corner of her eye, she could see Moynihan, biting down on the back of her shoulder. She attempted to repeat what she did with Michelle with this velociraptor. But Moynihan already grown wise to that tactice. As the alimon slammed into the ground, she quickly changed positions so that she ended up standing on the alimon's stomach and chest. The alimon was clearly not expecting this and didn't react in time to keep Moynihan from biting her neck. She lifted her off the ground, spun her once, and released her, causing the creature to slam into the ground.

The alimon started to chuckle as she got back onto her feet. "Not bad..not bad at all." She wiped the blood that now dripped from her mouth. "I admit, I'm somewhat impressed. Just a shame I'll ultimately be forced to kill you."

Moynihan's eyes widened. 'Why would you want to kills us?'

The alimon picked between her teeth with a claw. "It is not a decision I made. It was chosen for me. That is how my boss is."

'You don't need to listen to him, you know.' Moynihan told her.

The alimon chuckled. "Again you don't know how our leader is, old woman. I may not know Veloci, but, judging from what I'm seeing here, how you all fight, it's clear to me that he's not as big of a threat as my boss is. He'd tear this Veloci person apart."

'Impossible!' Max declared, walking up to the alimon. 'Veloci has countless men and resources at his disposal. Exactly how do you think your boss would be able to defeat him?'

The alimon said, "If this Veloci person was as dangerous as you apparently think he is, then your fighting would have shown it. So either he's just as weak as you are, or you rarely fought him. Either way, it doesn't matter. With the way you all fight, you wouldn't last ten minutes against my boss."

Fiona roared in anger. 'You don't know that!'

"Oh? Don't I?" The alimon looked up at Fiona. "Then why don't you show me?"

Fiona's eyes narrowed. 'Gladly...' With that, she ran towards the alimon with her jaws split open.

The alimon chuckled as she easily dodged the attack. "Too predictable."

Suddenly she felt the massive jaws of Max slam down onto her and lift her into the air. 'How's this for predictable?' He said to her as he threw her towards Fiona.

'Be careful of who you misjudge.' Fiona said as she turned to her side and used her tail to swat the alimon into the ground. 'You may live to regret it.'

The alimon got up onto her feet almost as quickly as she fell. She glared at Max and Fiona, roaring loudly. She was about to say something when something apparently got her attention. They hadn't noticed it before, but the alimon was wearing a thin collar of some kind and it was now flashing. The alimon glanced down at the flashing collar and all aggressiveness vanished from her. She looked at the Dino Squad with a calm face.

"Looks like I must depart know." She said as she turned around and began to walk away. "So long!"

'Wait!' Moynihan shouted, moving forward quickly. But it was too late. The alimon had already vanished from sight. She shook her head slowly. 'Such a misguided creature she is. She reminds me so much of Veloci.'

Buzz, who was still in pain from the alimon's attack, managed to climb onto his feet and let out a soft hissing sound. 'Do you think we should go after her?'

'What for?' Michelle turned to Buzz. 'We should consider ourselves lucky if we never see one of those things again.'

'I wouldn't mind not seeing her again.' Terri said as she limped forward a few steps. Her ankle had been torn pretty badly, but it wasn't life-threatening.

'Terri, will you be all right?' Fiona asked as she walked up to her sister. She eyed the leg worriedly.

'Yes, I'll be fine.' Terri took another step forward, and yelped in pain. 'Though I may need a bit of help.'

Moynihan continued to glance in the direction the alimon left. She felt it was a shame that the alimon had chosen this sort of path in her life, that she had a boss that would want her to attack first rather than befriend. She wondered if they were going to run into her again, or even another of these alimons. She wasn't sure if their next encounter will be this terrible, but, deep inside her, she hoped that not all the alimons were like this one. She hoped the next one they meet would at least listen to reason.

Seeing no further reason to remain in the area, she shifted back into human form and turned to her team. "Let's head back to the lighthouse."

sss

Kista arrived on the scene about an hour or two later. She had arrived by helicopter. She stepped out of the copter and signaled to the subordinate to wait for her as she went to investigate. She walked out onto the tide pools, looking left to right to see if she could find any sign of the Dino Squad or the strange creature. She kept her distance just in case they were still there. Veloci had ordered her not to fight the team.

But as she ventured in closer, she realized that she had arrived onto the scene too late. There were no signs of the Dino Squad or the animal they had been fighting. The scene was abandoned and empty, but she could still tell what went on based on the blood stains and the markings left in the dirt.

There had apparently been some battle here, but she already knew that due to the radar system back in Raptor Dyne. She could see foot prints, both normal and ones that appear off, as though they skidded or tripped over themselves. She could see signs of bodies that crashed into the ground. She could see many blood marks soaking into the ground. The battle hadn't lasted too long, but it was still rather intense.

Judging from the tracks, it appears the alimon had fled the scene. Why, she couldn't tell. Either the creature had enough of fighting them, or the Dino Squad defeated it. She scratched her chin thoughtfully as she pondered over what had happened. She started to wonder what caused the fight to begin with. Was this creature the initial attacker or did the Dino Squad attack first? The second idea seemed preposterous. The Dino Squad weren't usually the type to attack first.

Kista chuckled as she thought how Veloci was going to react to the news. She had a feeling he was going to overreact as usual. Even if she told him she went as fast as she could, he'd probably still be upset. But he wouldn't punish her for it, she knew that. Veloci would likely punish the subordinate that had been driving the helicopter, reprimanding him for not going fast enough. If that were to happen, she would be sure to defend him. After all, it wasn't the subordinate's fault the fight didn't last as long as Veloci had hoped.

She turned around and headed back to the helicopter. She climbed back in. "It's too late. They already left. Take me back to Raptor Dyne." The man obliged and the helicopter rose back into the air and road off back to Boston.

As the helicopter drove off, on a hill further away from the tide pools, the same alimon the Dino Squad fought before had her head tilted upward, her eyes glued on the copter. "Looks like I chose a good time to leave."

"You mean I chose a good time to get you out of there." Said a voice close to her. The voice belonged to a male alimon, characterized by long, blade-like feathers sticking out the back of his neck. The alimon was dark gray with a dark brown underside. "Had you continued to fight those strangers, that copter would have arrived and I'm sure whatever human that was on board would have tranquilized you and taken you off to some lab."

The female alimon simply shrugged her shoulders. She turned away from the copter and began to walk again. "At least I got out of there; that's all that matters. And they didn't get my name either."

The male looked at her, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "That isn't the only thing that matters. They didn't get any of your blood, did they?"

The female blinked. "Other than what they spilled in the fight. What do you expect, Gris? They managed to get some good blows on me."

The male, Gris, snarled. "You know the boss isn't going to like this."

"I'm well aware of that." The female said. "But what do you want me to do? Go back in time or something?"

Gris shook his head. "Let's just head back to the headquarters. Our boss is waiting there for us. He has some important news he would like to give us. Best not keep him waiting." The two alimons broke into a run.

sss

Peter was packing a few things as he prepared to make his journey to a nearby museum. He had recently been told by Zoom that he was to steal some mammalian fossils for testing. He never pulled a heist like this before, but with the right tools, he might be able to do it. In the large bag in front of him, he packed any equipment he felt he may need just in case, which included a gun, a tazer, and a couple of nets. He zipped up the bag and slung it over his shoulder.

He walked out of the room and headed down the hallway. Before he got too far, he nearly had a run-in with Ryan. He took a few steps back, eyeing the man angrily. Ryan was carrying a large box, likely filled with newly created weapons. "Keep an eye on where you are going!"

Ryan hissed, adjusting the box in his hands. "Kind of hard to do that when I can barely see!"

"Then you should be more careful." Peter said. "It is not impossible for you to lower the box so you can see better. Anyway, be on your way."

"Who are you to give me orders?" Ryan growled.

Peter stepped up close to him, his eyes glowing. "Veloci gave me a much higher rank than you, Ryan. I have the authority to tell you what to do. And if you don't do what I say, I can report you directly to Veloci. Now do you want that?"

Ryan shook his head. "No, sir."

"Good. Now get going." Peter said. He watched Ryan move forward slowly at first, then pick up speed once he had gotten behind him. He knew Ryan was afraid of him. Both Ryan and Zoom were scared of mutantsaurs and morphers after what had happened to them.

But he wasn't interested in dwelling on that now. He continued to make his way down the corridor to get on the helicopter he knew was waiting for him. It didn't take him long to find the copter and climb into it. As the helicopter began to take off for their destination, he started to think about what he would do once he arrived at the museum. But that wasn't the question that was bugging him the most. What was really driving him nuts was what Veloci wanted with the mammalian bones. He knows he wants to use them for a test, but he couldn't think of what kind of test Veloci would want to do on mammalian bones.

That question would have to wait until later, though. Right now, he needed to focus on actually getting the fossils. And for him and his apatosaurus form, that shouldn't be too much of a problem.

sss

The subordinate cringed as Veloci towered over him, an enraged look on his face. He took a few steps back, lowering his head in the presence of his boss.

"What do you mean you were too late?" Veloci snarled as he moved in even closer to the trembling man. He was struggling to keep his claws from popping out.

"W-Well, you see, s-sir.." The man stammered. "..I-I-I went as fast I could..."

"And you didn't go fast enough! Stupid humans, it's always something!" Veloci hissed as he forced himself to turn away from the man. He walked up to the monitor he had been watching before. Not too long ago, it was full of activity. Now it was blank with nothing registering on it. He clenched his fist tightly. "We were so close to obtaining one of those strange animals. If it wasn't for you and your idiocy...!"

Kista shook her head disapprovingly. "Now there, Veloci, he did the best he could. You cannot expect any more from him."

Veloci turned to Kista. "I expect perfection, and nothing less!" He turned back to the radar and pressed a button to zoom out. He was hoping he would find more signals of the creature so he could track it again. Eventually he found not one but two unusual signatures, one belonging to the same animal and another, apparently a member of the same species. The two dots were moving across the screen, heading towards some undesignated location. "The creatures made considerable distance already. Interesting." He commented. He turned back to Kista.

"I have another mission for you, Kista. Go find the Dino Squad." Veloci said. "Get them to tell you what they know about this creature and report back to me. I recommend going after just one of those little brats so they won't give you as much trouble."

"Another mission? Oh all right, if you insist." Kista said in an almost playful tone. She gave a sideways glance to the still trembling man. "Just promise me you won't promenade the poor man."

Veloci growled. "Just get moving!"

Kista rolled her eyes. "All right, all right, sheesh!"

But just as she turned to walk away, Veloci called out, "On second thought..I'll send someone else instead. This seems to be the kind of job that's perfect for Oscura. Where is your adopted daughter anyway?"

Kista said, "I'm not sure. She's probably off pendulating somewhere in Raptor Dyne. You know how she is."

"Well go find her." Veloci pointed his finger at her. "I want her to set out on the mission tonight!"

"As you wish, sir." Kista said in a somewhat mocking tone. She had quickly disappeared into a corridor before Veloci could give a retort.

sss

The Dino Squad were back at the lighthouse. They had each been treated by Moynihan, who cleaned and bandaged their wounds. She commented that the wounds weren't as bad as they appeared, and that they could have been a lot worse. Moynihan suffered from several injuries herself, which she cleaned and covered up shortly before she had started to treat the children. Rump also needed to be treated. He was harder to do. Fiona had to hold the dog still for her to apply the medication and bandages properly.

"So you believe this alimon creature was the same creature that was recently discovered?" Max asked. "It seems really hard to believe..."

"Yet I'm a velociraptor that's millions of years old, and you believe that, don't you?" Moynihan said, a small smile on her face.

Terri rubbed her now bandaged ankle. The leg was slightly swollen from the bite. "I'm just hoping we never run into another one again."

"But we'll never figure out all the answers if we avoid them." Max said.

"Are you saying we should pursue them?" Michelle asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"No, but should we run into one of them again, we should try talking to them." Max responded.

Buzz looked at him in shock. "Are you nuts? Ms. M tried to talk to the alimon and look at what that alimon creature did! What makes you think any other alimon would be in a talking mood?"

"Buzz has a point." Rodger said. "There's no guarantee that any other alimon we encounter will be any different. We should keep on our guard."

Many of the others nodded their heads in agreement. After what happened today, most of them didn't want to go near another alimon for a long time. They had seriously underestimated the animal's fighting ability. They were lucky they got out with non-fatal injuries. As Moynihan told them, it could have been a lot worse. They didn't think they should take any chances with future encounters. Until they could figure out a safe way to obtain data on the creatures and be able to plan accordingly, they hoped they could avoid any more unexpected encounters with the strange creatures.


	7. The Ambush

"There's also no guarantee that the next alimon we meet will be a vicious one. We should give them the benefit of the doubt." Max pointed out.

Rodger looked at Max. "But you heard that alimon. We can't make a mistake with her species." He looked down at his hands as he seemed lost in his thoughts. "I really don't want to make a mistake..."

Moynihan said, "Yet as Max already pointed out, if we never meet another alimon, we won't ever learn anything about them. I know that you kids are sore from our recent battle with one, but we shouldn't allow ourselves to judge these creatures so harshly based on the behavior of one."

Terri glanced up slowly. "I suppose you're right. I mean, I made that mistake with Rodger and Buzz. But after getting to know them, everything I thought I knew about them, I realized was wrong."

Buzz smiled at her. "Oh yes. If I recall, before you got to know me, you used to call me Buzzard." He and Terri chuckled for a few seconds at that remark.

Moynihan tried to say something, but she accidentally hit the remote with her elbow. The remote fell to the ground. "Oops." She muttered as she lowered herself to pick it up. As she set it back down, she noticed the television had turned on.

A news reporter was on the screen, looking rather solemn. His eyes were slightly downcast and he held a mic close to his head. The background depicted the telltale signs of red flashing lights. An ambulance was parked behind the news reporter. A stretcher could be seen, carrying away a completely covered body, likely presumed to be dead.

"There has been another murder. Like with the previous murders, the body has not been identified yet. The body was found in the same park as the first victim was found and shows very similar injuries. The police still haven't identified the killer, but many experts agree the attacker is not human. As for what animal could be responsible, they cannot say for sure yet, except that it was most likely a black bear. As a precaution, rangers plan on finding the black bear they think is responsible for the attacks and shooting it. Until this matter is settled, we strongly encourage you to remain at home unless you absolutely have to leave."

There was a strange sound. The news reporter turned, and his eyes widened slightly. But before anything could happen, the camera was shut off, cutting the signal. The television screen then displayed two people sitting next to each other, a man and a woman. They looked confused at first, then shrugged their shoulders, stating it was just a technical problem. They switched to another bit of news.

"An animal?" Max repeated softly. He looked over at Moynihan. "Do you think an animal was responsible?"

"Could be. Animal attacks are not unheard. But considering the attack that occurred at that facility, I don't think an animal could have planned that." Moynihan said, frowning softly.

Rodger nodded. "That attack seemed to hint a human killer."

"But which is it? It can't be both." Terri said. She looked at the others. "..can it?"

Then they each had the same thought in their minds. There was a way for the killer to have the intelligence of a human but leave attacks that would lead people to believe it was an animal. And that way was if it was a human that could turn into an animal. They knew a few people like that besides themselves, four to be exact. Any of those four could be likely candidates, though there was only one of those four they felt was most likely responsible due to past experience.

"Do you think Oscura did it?" Fiona said.

"I would not put it past her. The girl's sadistic." Michelle said in a somewhat bitter tone. "She's tried to have me killed many times before."

Buzz stood up. "Then we should go after her and interrogate her."

Michelle looked over at him, smiling faintly. "You mean like how you interrogated me?" Buzz flinched slightly at that comment. "Besides, that may not be a good idea. She has a poisonous bite, and plus she isn't one to talk so easily. She could give us false information to mislead us."

"Michelle's right. Oscura isn't trustworthy enough to interrogate." Max explained, leaning forward slightly. He clasped his hands together in a thoughtful manner. "If we are going to get information from her, we need a different approach."

sss

"Oh really?" Oscura said excitedly as she looked at Kista.

"Yes, really." Kista said, smirking slightly.

It had taken her a while, but Kista managed to locate Oscura. She was off in a different section of Raptor Dyne, giving Zoom a hard ime. She liked to mess with Zoom and Ryan, especially knowing that they were fearful of dinosaurs and mutantsaurs. Kista had stopped Oscura before she could continue her intimidation on Zoom. The man, upon seeing Kista, immediately fled down the hallway.

Oscura was at first angry at the woman had interrupted her fun. But as soon as she heard the news on her new assignment, she got very happy and eager. It had been a while since she was on a mission she enjoyed. And this mission involved getting close to the Dino Squad. She wanted another attempt at revenge against them. Her last attempt not only failed; it granted them a new morphing member.

"But remember, you are just interrogating them. Dr. Veloci is currently interested in the strange animal they were fighting. So don't get carried away." Kista warned the teenager, but knew she was probably not going to listen. "Once you get the information, just leave. Don't stick around long enough for them to try to stop you."

"Stop me? That's a laugh!" Oscura chortled.

Kista narrowed her eyes. "They were able to stop you before, you little lout. Or need I remind you of your failed attempt at revenge? As I recall, Dr. Veloci was not very pleased with you." Oscura didn't answer, just gritting her teeth in rage. Kista smiled triumphantly. "That's what I thought."

Not wanting to listen to more of Kista talking, Oscura immediately headed down the hallway. Kista watched her as the girl disappeared down the corridor. She smiled and shook her head. She had recently taken Oscura in for reasons she didn't reveal. Managing the girl wasn't always easy, but she was doing okay. Oscura hated having to listen to her and often would only oblige if she wanted to please Veloci. Kista was well aware of Oscura's small crush on the man and used that to her advantage.

"Well I best return to my work." She said to herself. She turned around and walked away.

sss

Oscura was in a weapons room deep in Raptor Dyne. She hadn't stuck around long enough for Kista to tell her if she was allowed to bring weapons or not, but she didn't care. The last time she tried for revenge, she made the mistake of not bringing any weapons. This time, she will not make that same mistake.

She rummaged through the equipment, trying to find one particular weapon. She finally found it and picked it up. The weapon was bright orange in color with a front piece shaped like the head of an ankylosaurus. It was a relatively new weapon Veloci had developed, which he called the knocker. The weapon may have had a strange name, but its name deceived its functionality. The weapon was designed to knock out whoever it was shot at, regardless of size or species.

Oscura smirked. "This weapon hasn't been tested yet, at least not on live humans or dinosaurs." She stroked the top of the weapon. "Until now that is."

She pushed the weapon into her pocket. Much of it still stuck out, but she didn't mind. She was about to leave when she saw something else that would be handy: rope. She walked over to a corner of the small room and grabbed some rope. She intended on using the rope to tie up whoever she managed to catch and interrogate them. The type of rope she had selected was no ordinary rope; it was electrified, must like the bridle Caruso was forced to wear. She smiled as she thought about her would-be victim writhing in pain from the electrical rope.

The one person she hoped she would come across was Michelle. She still had a score to settle with that girl. She was going to make sure that Michelle pay for her past treachery. While she would rather kill her, she wouldn't mind simply torturing her. Of course, she also wouldn't mind getting her claws into any other member of the Dino Squad.

Once she was finished gathering all the rope she felt she would need, Oscura went towards the open door and shut the door behind her. She then started to make her way down the corridor towards the elevator. An evil smile was on her face as the doors closed.

sss

Terri and Fiona, along with the others, were riding their motorbikes back towards their house. The Dino Squad and Moynihan were unable to agree on what course of action to take regarding Oscura, so it was decided that the plan to get information from her would be put on hold until further notice. Some were disappointed in this decision while the rest were glad they didn't have to see Oscura's face again.

Terri was especially glad. She had developed a near unhealthy fear and hatred for the teenager for what she tried to do to her in the past. Yet at the same time she was almost grateful. Had it not been for that encounter, she wouldn't have gained her dinosaur form and baryonyx-style motorbike.

Still, even that wasn't enough to offset the horrors she went through in her first and, hopefully, last encounter with Oscura. As she recalled the details, her eyes narrowed and her motorbike slightly slowed down in speed. Fiona noticed this and slowed down as well. She glanced over at Terri briefly before returning her eyes on the road. She couldn't see the girl's face due to their helmets, but she could still tell something was wrong.

"Terri, what's wrong?" After not getting a response, Fiona took a guess at what Terri was thinking about. "Are you thinking about what Oscura did to you?" She looked over briefly to see Terri give a slight nod. "Terri, you aren't doing yourself a favor by thinking about that. Besides, if you run into Oscura again, you'll be better prepared. You have a dinosaur form now. You aren't as defenseless as you were back then."

"Yes, but I'll never forget what she said to me." Terri said, sighing softly. "Just like how Caruso will never forget how Veloci tortured him."

Caruso, who was close behind Terri, narrowed his eyes. "That's quite true."

The remaining members were following close behind as well. They didn't live too far from each other so they often took the same route until their paths diverged. The only person not with them was Michelle, who had moved in with Moynihan and lived at the lighthouse.

"Look, let's not dwell on this topic too long." Max said. "Moynihan said we can continue discussing it tomorrow."

The others nodded in acknowledgment.

"Maybe this whole ordeal will fix itself by tomorrow?" Buzz said hopefully. After a long pause without an answer, he chuckled nervously. "Hey you can't blame a guy for trying."

"We all wish for this ordeal to be over, Buzz. But I'm afraid that's not going to happen." Rodger said.

"Yeah. The murders are just going to continue." Caruso said.

Fiona said, "And, until more information is figured out, they are just going to keep happening..." She slightly tightened her grip on her bike's handlebars. "...as much as we would like them to stop."

Hoping to get a change of subject, Rodger said, "Do you think we can convince Moynihan to let us play a game in dino mode like we did with dinosaur hockey?"

Max blinked. "Like what?"

Rodger shrugged his shoulders slightly. "I'm not sure. But I do enjoy dinosaur hockey. A shame it's still many months before winter."

Caruso smiled at the thought. "Yes. I would like a rematch against Michelle. She owes me for making me look like a stegosaurus snowman." The others laughed at his comment.

sss

Gris and the purple female made their way through rocky, dirty tunnels. They had been walking for quite a while, but they finally reached their destination. The tunnels suddenly expanded out into a large opening, revealing a large room. Stalagmites and stalactites filled the cave and several other tunnel openings could be seen. Near the rear of the cave there was a rock formation, high above everything else. Sitting on top of it were a group of alimons, their bodies hidden in the shadows.

The two alimons made their way towards this formation. To either side of them were other alimons, each of their own unique pattern and a multitude of different colors. Some were growling, others were curious, and others were gnawing on bones. One thing they all had in common was on one shoulder, usually the left one, they had a distinctive scar, looking like two claws crossing over one another in the shape of an X.

When they got close enough, Gris called out, "I did what you asked of me! Violet has returned and she has encountered the team who called themselves the Dino Squad!"

A male alimon peered over the rock formation. The only features clearly visible were his red glowing eyes and skin that appeared dark blue. "You mean that team of dinosaur-morphing adolescent humans we found out about some time ago? You encountered them?"

The purple female, Violet, nodded in confirmation. "Yes, sir, I did. I was scouting the area like you wanted me to, and I ran into them, all of them."

The male alimon's eyes widened slightly. "You didn't tell them anything, did you? It is crucial we remain anonymous to these...creatures until we are prepared."

Violet nodded her head. "The only thing they got out of me is our species' names. But don't worry, they are still clueless to our plans. And besides.." She flexed her claws. "..they aren't that much of a threat. They fight like weaklings. It has become apparent to me that their own enemy, Veloci, is either weak himself, or they just don't fight him enough. Just one of us could handle the lot of them at this time."

This news caused a slight stir amongst the alimons in the group. Many had started chatting with one another, some arguing about what course of action to take. They immediately stopped when the male who was talking before stomped his foot down. He glared at the alimons below him. Once they had settled down, he turned back to Violet. "And are you sure they didn't follow you?"

Violet scratched her side with her hind leg before she continued. "Yes I am quite positive of that. If they had tried, I would have noticed."

The male was about to say something when he was suddenly pushed aside by another male. The dark-colored male snarled in annoyance but still lowered his head in respect with the new alimon, who appeared to be white in coloration, but it was hard to tell with the shadows covering them. The light-colored male spoke up. "For now we will not engage the Dino Squad. But if they do so much as step in our way, we will deal with them."

sss

Later, as night started to fall, Terri had left the house on her motorbike with Michelle. Michelle had come over to her house and told her that Moynihan was in need of a certain computer piece, but she didn't know what it looked like. She wasn't an expert on computer parts, so she felt Terri was the best person to ask. Terri wasn't happy about going out again, but she obliged.

The two were riding side by side on the road. They were heading towards the local hardware store, which wasn't too far. They could get there faster if they took a back way, but they decided, for now, it was safer to use the main route. The fact it was night was another factor in them wanting to stay away from back roads. It would be harder for them to detect any danger.

They soon arrived at the hardware store. But unfortunately for them, it appeared to be closed. The lights were completely out and when they tested the door, they found it to be locked.

"How frustrating to come all the way here only to find it's closed." Michelle muttered. "I guess Moynihan will have to wait until tomorrow to get the parts."

Terri looked over at her. "Yeah, unfortunately. The store will be open early tomorrow, though. So just come by my house tomorrow and we'll come back."

They were about to turn around when something slammed into the ground next to them. It was a bright blue flash and they barely had time to react. Before they could look over at the source, another blast came, knocking both off their bikes. Although scraped and sore, they were overall okay, minus the injuries they already suffered from the alimon attack. They looked over at their attacker.

Oscura, smirking, stepped from the shadows, holding the knocker in her hands. "Well, well, well, ain't this my lucky day?"

"Oscura!" Terri gasped.

"What are you doing here?" Michelle asked through clenched teeth.

Oscura laughed. "Dr. Veloci wants information from the Dino Squad." She raised the knocker again, leveling it so she could shoot it again. "And you two are going to provide that information."

Michelle took a step forward, adopting a fighting stance. "You're crazy if you think we will tell you anything!"

Hesitant at first, Terri took a step forward as well. "Yeah!"

Oscura simply smirked. She looked over at Terri. She licked her lips as she said, "Standing up to me now, are you? Did you forget our last encounter? You were so easy to take down." Terri growled at her.

"That's not proof of anything!" Michelle said angrily. "If anything, that just proves you're a coward by taking on someone who couldn't morph!"

"It's called asserting dominance." Oscura said casually, gesturing with her hand. "It was just too easy doing that with your friend there." She licked her lips again as if she had just seen food she was craving to eat.

"I won't let you do that again!" Terri said, though she took a step back. Despite efforts to stop it, she felt her mind go into a flashback, recalling what had happened to her not too long ago.


	8. A Recollection

*Past*:

Terri was walking along the sidewalk, walking past several houses that were somewhat close together. She was on her way to a friend's house. Her friend wanted her to hang out because she wanted to show her something she had just gotten for her birthday. Terri didn't know what it was, but she'll find out once she got there.

The sun was brightly lit and hung overhead. Terri could feel the warmth of the sun mixing in with the chill of the day. It was a bit cold today, but not enough to make her wear a jacket. She wouldn't need to worry about it for too long, though. Her friend's house, by now, was only a couple blocks down the road. She would arrive in the next ten minutes.

Just then, she heard a sound as she was about pass another house. She looked over towards the source of the sound. It came again. Whatever it was, it was coming from between the two houses. She thought briefly of going in to investigate, but thought better of it. It was probably just some stray animal that was roaming around or something. She shrugged her shoulders. It wasn't something she needed to concern herself with. She started to make her way past the alleyway.

Suddenly, something grabbed her from behind, covering her mouth before she could scream. She was swiftly yanked into the alleyway, the shadows enveloping her. Terri struggled against her attacker, kicking and slapping whenever she could, but the attacker was relentless. The attacker was pulling her onto the hard ground. Terri tried to fight it, but was unable to match the attacker's strength and found herself falling into the ground, the attacker's arms still wrapped around her body.

Terri managed to free her mouth by jerking her head sharply a few times. She turned her head to try to get a good look at her attacker. Her eyes widened. She had expected a crazed man, but instead she was looking at another female teenager, who looked like she was about the same age as Buzz. The teenager wore dark clothing and had raven-black long hair.

"Who...who are you?" Terri managed to ask. She shuddered at the cold laughter the teenager emitted.

The teenager said evilly, "I am Oscura, and I am your worst nightmare..."

Terri struggled again. "Let me go!" She yelped as Oscura suddenly dug sharp claws into her arm. She looked up at Oscura in horror. "You're...a..."

"Dinosaur? Why, yes I am." Oscura grinned. She released one of her hands and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a relatively large cloth. "And you..are about to truly understand what it means to be afraid."

Before Terri could jerk her head away, Oscura shoved the cloth against her face. Terri struggled to free herself. She tried not to inhale, knowing that the cloth was coated in some knockout gas. But no matter how hard she tried, Oscura held her in place and kept the cloth where it was. Unable to continue holding her breath, Terri took in a few breaths. After a few seconds, her eyes closed and her body became limp. Oscura continued to hold the cloth until she was certain Terri was completely out. Once she was sure, she removed the cloth and stood triumphantly over her victim.

"Revenge will be sweet." She said, sneering evilly at Terri's unmoving form.

sss

Terri moaned as she opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry for a few moments, but quickly sharpened. Her head was groggy and it took her a while to realize she wasn't at her friend's house nor at her own house. When her mind was cleared, her eyes widened and she looked around to see where she was. It looked like she was in some kind of abandoned building. She could see several broken windows, some doors that led to other rooms, broken wooden panels, and a strange smell hung in the air.

She tried to move her arms, but quickly found they were chained and bound at either side. She looked at her bonds. They weren't rope, but instead metal, the cold ring fastened tightly around her wrists. She glanced down at her feet. They were strapped in some kind of shackle, binding her feet together. She tried to move them, hoping the shackle were weak. But it did not budge.

Terri's heart started to race when she heard footsteps coming from down the hall. When she saw Oscura start to approach her, Terri straightened up, eyes widened in uncertainty. The evil teenager just smiled at her as she got closer to her. Once she reached Terri, she simply stared at her for a few moments, looking like she was enjoying the girl's fear. Terri tried to look away, but found it hard to tear herself away from Oscura's cold stare.

"Get away from me!" She managed to say.

Oscura chuckled darkly. "Oh I'm sorry. I can't allow that." She reached forward and gently tilted Terri's head upward with her hand. "You see, you are going to help me fulfill my plan to get revenge against the pesky Dino Squad. I want them to suffer for making me look like a fool."

Terri jerked her head away. Through nervously clenched teeth, she said, "What are you going to do to me..?"

Giggling in an almost insane manner, Oscura took a step even closer to Terri and leaned in. She gripped both Terri's shoulders as she placed her mouth close to Terri's ear. She then whispered into the girl's ear, "Eat you."

Terri was too stunned and horrified to respond. Her whole body started to tremble as Oscura moved back from her, smirking at her. Oscura held up a hand, sharp claws rapidly growing from her finger tips. Terri tried to move back as Oscura moved in closer with her claws. The evil teenager placed a claw tip against Terri's forehead and applied pressure. Terri cried as the claw pierced her skin and blood started to flow. But Oscura wasn't done yet. She started to drag the claw, very slowly, down the girl's face. Terri winced in pain as the claw continued down her face until it reached her jaw. Oscura withdrew her hand.

Terri's eyes widened when she saw Oscura lick the claw tip that was stained with her blood. Oscura seemed to enjoy it. She turned her attention back to her victim. She leaned in close to Terri and started to lick part of the cut on her face, looking as if she was enjoying the taste of human blood. She pulled back, licking her lips a few times. "It seems I picked the right prey. You taste delicious."

Terri tried again to struggle to free herself. "No! I won't let you!"

Oscura chuckled. "A feisty one. I like that. Tell you what. I'll go and barricade all the exits, and then I'll release your bonds. Then we can have a little fun." She flexed her claws in anticipation as she stared into Terri's fearful eyes. "I'm so going to enjoy this..."

Terri watched as Oscura went to work barricading all the exits. She barricaded the exits using various heavy objects, upon which she seemed to use her dino strength to aid her in moving. By the time Oscura was done setting up the barricades, Terri realized there was no chance for her to escape through those. She lacked the strength to move the objects. She couldn't use the windows either; Oscura had nailed a couple boards to eat of them to ensure she couldn't escape that way.

As Oscura was finishing setting up the area for whatever game she was going to play with her, Terri wondered why Oscura had targeted her. She recalled Oscura mentioned something about the Dino Squad. Then it hit her. She remembered her sister told her about two new dino morphers they met. Michelle was one of them, who had become a recent member of the team. But there was another, one that the others didn't like very much, and that must have been Oscura. Terri gulped. It seemed she was about to experience firsthand the reason why this teen was so widely hated.

Oscura walked up to Terri, her eyes starting to glow slightly in anticipation. "Okay, we can begin now." She reached down to Terri's legs to undo the shackles. "Let's see how good you are at defending yourself. I do hope you put up a good fight." She went to undoing the bonds that held Terri's arms in place. "I do love a good challenge. It's always so much more fun when the prey fights back."

As soon as she felt her arms were free, Terri lunged at Oscura and shoved her into the ground. "I am not your prey! Now release me, or I'll call for help!" She reached into her pocket to get her cellphone, but her eyes widened in horror when she realized it wasn't there. She felt Oscura push against her, knocking her back.

"Oh you think I was stupid enough to let you keep your cellphone? Wrong!" Oscura sneered. "I made sure I disposed of that before I brought you here. No one will be able to hear you here. And you will not be able to call for help."

Oscura charged for Terri, wrapping her arms around her as she pinned the girl to the ground. Terri struggled frantically to get Oscura off of her. She pushed her hand against Oscura's face and attempted to kick her off with her legs. But nothing seemed to make the evil teenager get off of her. She gripped Oscura's arm and dug her nails as deep into it as she could. When that didn't work, she tried one last thing. She bit Oscura.

This caused Oscura to scream in pain, allowing for Terri to kick her off. Terri then got up and started to run towards one of the exits, hoping that she would be able to escape before Oscura would regain her footing. But before she could reach one of the barricaded exits, she felt Oscura push against her again, pinning her back down. Terri looked up at Oscura in fear as she continued to struggle.

"Let me go now! Please!" Terri pleaded, a few tears starting to form in her eyes.

This pleased Oscura. "Why should I let you go? I am the predator in this game." She lowered her head so it was close to Terri's. "And you are my prey."

With that, she opened her mouth, her troodon teeth coming forward, and bit down on Terri, slicing into her throat. She deliberately avoided the jugular veins because she wanted to prolong the girl's suffering. Terri screamed in agony and tried to struggle even harder. Oscura responded to this by biting harder, enjoying the taste of human blood that was now trickling into her mouth.

Instinctively, she transformed completely into a troodon. She used her dino mode's strength to keep Terri still as she continued to bite her neck. It wasn't long before the poisonous bite started to take effect. Terri's struggles slowed down and then ceased altogether. Instead, all she could do now was moan in pain, completely helpless in Oscura's jaws.

Oscura seemed mildly disappointed that the fight was over so quickly. 'I was hoping you'd put up more of a fight. Oh well. My fault for biting you too early.' Terri moaned again, her eyes starting to close. 'Don't worry, your pain will end soon.'

Terri managed to keep one eye open. "Wh...what m-makes you think my...friends aren't g-going to find out what you did...?"

Oscura's eyes glinted. 'Whoever said I was going to lie to them about it? I want them to find out. I want them to suffer.'

"Y-You'll regret it..." Terri managed to say before Oscura dug her claws deep into her arms. She was too weak to scream.

'Don't worry, you won't go to waste.' Oscura sneered. She couldn't wait to tear out this pathetic human's throat. 'You'll make a fine dinner.'

All Terri could do was groan and close her eyes. She waited for Oscura to deliver the final blow. But it never came.

There was a loud sound that got Oscura's attention. She released her grip on Terri's neck and looked up to find the source of the sound. She noticed there was now a large, gaping hole in the wall. She didn't have a lot of time to take this in as something golden slammed into her, knocking her clean off Terri. Oscura scrambled to her feet and hissed angrily. She looked up to see the angry face of a familiar spinosaurus.

'You!' Oscura growled.

'What have you done to my sister?!' Fiona roared, positioning herself in front of Terri protectively.

Terri opened up her eyes and tried to see who had saved her, but all she could see was blurry gold and brown. She had an idea of who it was. "F-Fiona...?" She whispered before her vision went black and she went unconscious.

sss

For the second time that day, Terri woke up. This time, she woke up in her own bedroom. Her neck had been bandaged up. The pain had lessened. Looking over at a medicine bottle, she guessed the reason why. Her head was feeling wonky again and she struggled to try to remember the details of what had happened. She recalled being ambushed by some crazy teenager, who had tried to eat her.

Her eyes flew open as she recalled that detail. She sat up quickly and looked around as if she thought this was some kind of trick or dream. But sitting up quickly gave her a dizzy spell and she fell back onto the bed. She groaned in pain. Her neck was stiff and sore and she had a pounding headache. She rubbed her head softly.

"Terri! Oh Terri, thank goodness you're all right!" Mrs. Flagstaff cried as she embraced her youngest daughter. She, her husband, and Fiona had been sitting in the room with her, waiting for her to wake up.

"M-Mom..." Terri whispered, and then winced in pain.

"Shh. You shouldn't talk right now." Mr. Flagstaff said, looking at his daughter with an almost uncharacteristic solemn look. "You took a nasty blow to your neck. Fiona told us what happened. She saved your life before you were killed."

Terri looked over at Fiona, who had moved in closer and was leaning on the bed next to her. "Th-thank you.." Terri managed to say, a small smile appearing on her face.

Fiona smiled softly. But her face turned serious again. "I'm still waiting for Buzz to come back with some more potent medicine. You've been bitten by Oscura, who has a troodon form, and her troodon form has a poisonous bite. You'll be sick for a while, I'm afraid." She leaned in close to Terri and pressed her forehead against her head. "But at least you're safe now. We were so worried about you."

"H-How..." Terri gasped.

"How did she find you? When we got a phone call from your friend stating that you hadn't shown up, we knew something was wrong. Fiona went out to look for you." Mrs. Flagstaff explained, stroking her daughter's hair.

"She used her dinosaur form to locate you by scent, and she found you at an abandoned building. She easily took care of that troodon girl and brought you back home." Mr. Flagstaff said.

After placing a kiss on her daughter's forehead, Mrs. Flagstaff straightened herself up, turned to her husband and other daughter, and said, "Come on, we should let her get some more rest. She's been through a lot." She turned back to Terri and gave a reassuring smile when she saw Terri's eyes widen slightly. "Don't worry, honey. You'll be safe here." She stroked her hair before turning around and leaving, her husband following behind.

Fiona watched them leave and looked back at Terri. She remained quiet for a few seconds, a solemn look on her face. "This is exactly why I didn't want you going on missions, Terri. I was afraid that something terrible would happen to you. And now..it had." She tried to hide her tears but failed. "I'm just glad that I arrived when I did. Had I been a few minutes late, you would have been..."

Terri smiled softly. "Yeah...I know.."

Fiona wiped away a tear. "Well I best get going and let you get some more sleep. You need to save up as much strength as you can until the sickness wears off." She started to get up from the bed when she felt something grab her. She looked down and saw that Terri had grabbed her arm and was looking at her with a near fearful look.

"Please..don't leave me alone." Terri whispered. "I-I'm too scared to be alone.."

Fiona's eyes widened at this. Terri almost never admitted when she was genuinely afraid. She moved in closer and put an arm around Terri. "Oh Terri... Don't worry. I'm here." She hugged her gently. "I won't let anything happen to you again." Terri smiled at this and closed her eyes.

*Present*:

The flashback left Terri with many unpleasant feelings. That was the only other time she had ever encountered Oscura directly. Her nearly being killed was a major reason her sister didn't want her on missions. Terri was sometimes employed on missions, but she hadn't encountered Oscura again, that is until now. She shuddered as she looked at Oscura's evil smile and felt uneasy from the way she was looking at her. She wondered if she was going to try to eat her once again.

But this time, she would have an advantage. After she recovered from the illness, it didn't take her and the others long to realize she was suddenly able to transform into a baryonyx. They weren't sure how she was able to at first until they investigated the house she was held in. It turned out that, a short time before Oscura used that building, Veloci had very recently released some ooze in the building as part of an experiment. Terri had been exposed to it during her struggle against Oscura. Had it not been for her capture, she never would have gained a dinosaur form.

"I admit, taking care of you will be more of a challenge." Oscura noted. "As I recall, you have a dinosaur form now."

Terri's eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"From what people have said of course. Plus Veloci told me about the primordial ooze he put in that building. He wasn't very happy I brought you there." Oscura said. "He doesn't like the idea of yet another member of the Dino Squad." She stroked the knocker in her hands. She then looked at the two girls in front of her, a sinister smile coming onto her face. "But now I can take care of you both. The interloper and the traitor in one go. Veloci will be so pleased!"

Michelle's eyes glowed brightly. "Bring it on then! I have many scores to settle with you with all the times you've tried to have me killed!"

Oscura simply shrugged her shoulders and said nonchalantly, "That is very tempting indeed, but unfortunately for me, Veloci only wants me to interrogate, not kill."

"What makes you think we are going to tell you anything?" Michelle demanded as she took a step forward. Her claws started to show on her hands. "You will have to fight to get any information from us!"

Feeling some courage rise inside of her, Terri found herself brandishing her claws at Oscura. "And there's two of us and only one of you!"

Oscura's eyes widened almost unnaturally and she spoke in a mocking voice, "Oh no! I am outnumbered! Oh whatever shall I do?" Her face immediately changed to an evil sneer. "This!" She leveled the knocker and aimed it at Michelle. She pulled the trigger and sent out another energy blast.

The blast slammed against Michelle and knocked her into the solid ground. Her body twitched for a few seconds and she remain limp on the ground. Terri, horrified, rushed to her side. She grabbed Michelle's shoulders and started to shake her, but Michelle wasn't responding. Scared, Terri looked over at Oscura. "What did you do to her?"

"Shh.. quiet. She's sleeping." Oscura whispered as she moved in quickly to Terri. "And soon, you will be too." She lifted up the knocker and pointed it at Terri.

Terri's eyes glowed. "Not this time..." With that, she transformed into her baryonyx form and roared at Oscura. 'Not ever again!'

Oscura shrugged her shoulders. "Do you really want to do this the hard way? Trust me, it will be so much easier to just surrender."

'I would rather fight you than go down so easily!' Terri declared, baring her teeth.

Oscura smirked. "Then prove that to me. Let's see if you truly are stronger than you were before."

Terri roared and charged towards Oscura, snapping her jaws a few times. Oscura just looked up at her with no fear whatsoever. She slowly pulled the knocker up and her finger pressed against the trigger. A second later, a blast shot out and headed straight for Terri.

sss

Dr. Axel stood outside of the museum. The parking lot was largely empty, though there were a few cars, including her own. The only people who would be in the museum at this hour were mostly security guards. She didn't need to worry about them because she was wearing her badge, which gave her authorization to come into the museum after hours.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a key. She placed it into the keyhole, twisted it, and opened the door. She stepped inside and began to walk through the near empty, silent museum. Only a few lights were on, so it was dimmer than usual. But she knew where she was going, easily navigating down the hallways and towards the large doors that led into the back section. She quickly opened them up and walked up to her station where she had examined the strange fossil with Veloci.

The fossil she was working on before had been moved onto a different table. A good portion of the rock that was sticking to it had been removed. A new fossil of the same creature had been found, this one slightly more intact, though the skull was crushed at one side. Axel walked up to it and looked down at the two skeletons. She was about to go to work when she noticed a note sitting on her worktable nearby. She picked it up and read it. It was a note from another museum worker telling her that someone tried to get in touch with her, stating that Veloci wanted to speak with her again.

Axel groaned and crumbled the piece of paper and tossed it into the nearby trash bin. "I have no time for Dr. Veloci. He can wait." She then turned her attention back towards the fossils. "I have more..urgent matters." She said, grinning.

She walked over to the table and pulled a drawer. She pulled out one of the tools she used to clean bone. Unlike most paleontologists who would use smaller tools to avoid damage, Dr. Axel had taken out a much larger tool. Its overall design was unlike that of any of the other tools that were in the drawer. She walked up to the fossil and lifted the tool.

She was about to activate it when she heard a loud ringing behind her. She growled softly, slammed the tool onto the table, and stormed over to the phone. She walked up to the phone. Before she grabbed it, she breathed in a few times to calm herself. She picked up the phone and said, "Hello?" When she recognized Veloci's voice, she gritted her teeth briefly. "Of all the times you had to call me.. I'm really busy at the moment."

Dr. Axel rolled her eyes when Veloci told her that she should show more respect to him considering he's a billionaire businessman. "Yeah, whatever. Sorry, but you really did pick a bad time to call me. I'm trying to..excavate more fossils of those strange animals and..." She stopped when Veloci explained to her about the incident he saw on the radar. Axel remained quiet for a few seconds and said, "Oh..really? Care to explain to me more about what happened?"

But Veloci wasn't interested in telling her the details over the phone. He insisted that they arrange another meeting, this time in a more secure location. "Not sure why we can't just have the meeting here, but okay." Dr. Axel said. "Just call me again when you are ready, and be sure to give me details on where you are so I can find you. And when I get there, be sure to tell me all the details." She hung up the phone.

Dr. Axel moved back towards the skeletons. She placed her hand on the head of the one with the crushed skull and gently stroked it. Her eyes tracked back to the phone. "I should have known..."

sss

Moynihan was sitting at her favorite chair, passing the time through knitting. She looked at the time and she couldn't help but feel worried, her eyes narrowing slightly. Two hours had passed since she had sent out Michelle to get her a computer piece she needed. The store wasn't that far away, so it shouldn't have taken her this long to get it. She wondered what was keeping Michelle.

She had thought of calling Michelle earlier to see if she was on her way back, but she had thought that by the time she called, Michelle would have been back home already. But a decent amount of time had passed between then and now and there was still no sign of Michelle. She had got up a few times and looked out the window to see if she was coming, but still no sign of her. It was beginning to worry Moynihan.

She then remembered the watches that each of the team usually wore, especially after what happened to Caruso. She knew Michelle was wearing one when she had walked out of the door. All she would need to do was use one of their computers to track her location. She got up from her seat, grabbed her cane, and made her way up the stairs.

Once she was up there, she walked towards the large monitor. She typed in a few commands and a radar screen came up. Her eyes widened slightly when not one but two signals were shown. She realized it was likely Terri. Michelle probably went over to Terri's place to help her get the computer part. But even with that extra trip, she still should have been back by now. And that wasn't the only thing she noticed was wrong.

The two signals were indeed moving, but they were moving away from the lighthouse and were too far away from the computer store. This was unlike Terri and Michelle. Something else had to be wrong. She wanted to contact them, but feared that it would only make their situation worse. Instead, Moynihan went over to another computer and typed in a few commands. It didn't take longer for the screen to change from black to showing a picture of a sleepy-looking Max.

Max yawned. "Ms. Moynihan? What's wrong?"

"Max, we've got a situation." Moynihan said, leaning in slightly. Max's expression became slightly more alert. "I sent Michelle out to get me something and she hasn't returned yet. According to the radar, she is likely with Terri but the two of them are heading further and further away and that isn't like them. I think something terrible has happened. I want you and the others to go out and find them."

Max, who know looked fully awake and shocked at the news, immediately said, "I'm on it, Moynihan!"


	9. Lingering Hostility

Caruso nearly fell out of his bed when he heard his cellphone ring. He cursed himself for turning the volume so high up. Grumbling, he fumbled for the phone, which sat on a table next to his bed, and picked it up. He rubbed his eyes and read the caller ID. It took him a few moments to realize who it was.

"Max...? What does he want?" He asked himself sleepily as he pressed the button. "Hello..?"

Max's voice sounded urgent. He told Caruso about how Moynihan wanted them to go find Michelle and Terri. But it took a few moments for Caruso to fully realize the situation. It was late and he was still very groggy, having just woke up. He yawned softly and muttered something before starting to doze off again, but Max raised his voice with him, jolting Caruso awake. It didn't take long after that for him to realize how serious the situation was.

"Michelle and Terri are missing?" He asked, though his voice still sounded tired. "Does Moynihan know where they are now?" He waited as Max explained where Moynihan believes they are. Caruso nodded a few times in acknowledgment. "All right, I'll be there."

He hung up his cellphone and got up out of bed. He stretched for a few seconds before he quickly changed his clothes. He put on his socks and shoes and walked out to where his motorbike was. He put in a couple chillers and spillers, hopped onto the bike, and sped off to the location where Max had described to him.

On the way there, he couldn't help but feel that Veloci was responsible for their disappearances. He couldn't think of a reason why he'd go out of his way to get Terri, but Michelle is a former employee and would be a prime target. Even though Veloci hadn't made too much of an attempt recently kill Michelle, Caruso knew Veloci enough to know that he would still kill her if he was given an opportunity.

"I hope we won't be too late." He told himself.

sss

Oscura took the last bit of electrical rope and proceeded to tie Terri to a chair next to the one she tied Michelle to. She had managed to knock out Terri almost the second she charged towards her and she had dragged the bodies into a nearby truck she managed to steal. She drove them to a secluded area outside of town. She had tied up Michelle first and was working on finishing up Terri. The two had already woke up but hadn't tried to escape when she told them the rope was electrical and that she could activate it at anytime if they tried to escape.

Once she was done with Terri, she walked over and pulled over a third chair, this one for herself. Gripping the rope that would active the electrical rope if she felt the need, she sat down in the chair in front of them and sneered at the two. She was obviously very happy with this stroke of luck. She never imagined she would get a hold of both Terri and Michelle. She hates Michelle and still wants to kill her, and she found Terri to be delicious and still wanted to eat her.

"I still can't believe my good fortune tonight." Oscura giggled. "The interloper.." She glanced at Terri. "..and the traitor." She glared over at Michelle. "If Veloci had only given me the right orders, I could kill you both and reduce the Dino Squad's numbers."

"Oh can it!" Michelle hissed, gritting her teeth. "This isn't an accomplishment and you know that!"

"I beg to differ. I captured both of you weaklings." Oscura said.

"You did it with a coward's weapon!" Michelle barked at her.

Terri nodded in agreement. "Yeah! If you really want an accomplishment, why not untie us both and try to fight us without any help from your precious weapons?!"

Oscura narrowed her eyes. She got up from her seat and strode over to Terri. As she got closer, Terri's eyes widened slowly and she tried to lean back in her chair. Oscura got uncomfortably close to her, lowering herself so she could be eye level with Terri. She could still see a faint mark on Terri's face where she scratched her. She gently rubbed a finger along the cut, causing Terri to wince in anticipation. "If I were in your situation, little girl, I wouldn't be trying to tempt fate."

Terri clearly looked afraid. "Please don't touch me..."

Oscura smirked. "Why should I? I will have you for dinner one day, whether you like it or not." She laughed as she extended her claws, about to cut deep into her skin again to draw more blood.

"Leave her alone!" Michelle called out, eyes widened. "I'm the one you really want! Don't hurt her!"

Oscura slowly turned her attention to Michelle. Her smile slowly faded into a frown. She moved away from Terri and started to come towards Michelle, who shrank back as she got closer. Oscura lowered her head, glaring into Michelle's eyes. "Yes you're right..." She leaned in close to Michelle, drool dripping down her chin as she bared her troodon teeth. "She isn't the one I really want. You are, you little traitor." Michelle closed her eyes and turned her head away. But Oscura was not about to be ignored. She roughly grabbed Michelle's head, digging her claws into her scalp, drawing blood. She then twisted it, forcing Michelle to look at her. "Look at me when I talk to you, traitor!"

"I'm not the real traitor..." Oscura's eyes widened when she heard Michelle say that. "Veloci is the real traitor when he turned his back on Moynihan." Michelle continued, sounding a bit bold. "Things would not have been this way had he listened to reason. I made the right decision by leaving him. He has no clue what he's doing."

Oscura growled as Michelle said that. She pulled her hand away and fully transformed it into a troodon hand. She brought it down, striking Michelle across the face, producing three long, bloody cuts. Michelle cried out in pain, closing her eyes tightly. "Don't you dare talk about Veloci in that way! Respect your superiors, you pathetic deserter!"

Terri looked at Michelle in shock. "Michelle! Are you all right?"

"Y-yeah.." Michelle said, wincing as she felt blood drip from her face. "I'll be fine..." She yelped as Oscura grabbed her lower jaw, digging claws deep into her skin. Her head was then forced in one direction. She opened her eyes and found herself looking back at Oscura's rage-filled expression.

"You're going to be far from fine once I'm through with you, Michelle." Oscura threatened, flashing her teeth. Through her pain, Michelle managed a small smile and chuckle, taking Oscura by surprise. "What are you laughing about?"

"You, Oscura." Michelle said, closing her eyes. "You'll never understand. I could explain it to you all day long, and your feeble mind will never be able to grasp the smallest details."

"Michelle..." Terri looked shocked by Michelle's bold taunt to Oscura.

"Face it, Oscura. You're just as mindless as you think the Dino Squad is." Michelle added, a taunting tone to her voice.

"How dare you!" Oscura hissed. Without thinking, she dropped the electric rope and brought her hands forward, both fully transformed. She dug her talons deep into Michelle's arms, causing her to cry out in pain. She squeezed harder as she brought her face close to hers. "You know what? Maybe I'll just kill you now and get it over with!"

With that, she fully transformed into a troodon. Still gripping Michelle's arms, she opened her jaws and bit down onto Michelle's head. Michelle cried in agony and tried to struggle, but Oscura's bite pressure simply increased. She could feel blood flowing from her face and it didn't take long for the poison of Oscura's bite to take effect. She started to feel weak, her vision starting to get blurry. Oscura pulled away, changing back into human form. She had a look of triumph on her face as she watched Michelle rapidly grow weaker.

"All I need is one more bite and you are done for, Michelle..." Oscura grinned, moving in closer.

Terri was about to call out when she realized something. Oscura wasn't holding the rope any longer and right now was too focused on Michelle to realize it. Without that one piece of rope, she couldn't activate the electricity in the ropes that now bound her and Michelle to the chairs. Trying to be as quiet as she could, Terri extended a claw and started to cut away at the rope.

"N-No matter what you say..." Michelle retorted, fighting against the sickness. "..this will never be a true..triumph."

Oscura laughed, folding her arms. "Says the girl who is about to die soon. I just need to bite again and you'll get so sick you'll die quickly." She licked her lips in anticipation. She couldn't wait to finally end the life of this traitorous girl. "As for your friend...I'll kill her shortly after. I am getting hungry."

Terri did her best to ignore that statement as she continued cutting through the ropes. She managed to slice the ropes that were binding her. Once she felt she was free, she jumped from the seat and rammed into Oscura, taking her by surprise. The two girls landed on the ground, Terri on top of Oscura. The evil teenager looked up at Terri in surprise, then quickly started to wrestle with her. The two girls rolled across the floor, digging their claws into each other.

Once Oscura managed to pin Terri on the ground, she said, "Who do you think you're dealing with?!"

Terri responded by driving a kick directly into Oscura's lower stomach. Oscura grunted in pain and fell off of Terri. "Someone who clearly doesn't think before she acts!" She quickly got on top of Oscura and attempted to hold her down.

"Get off of me!" Oscura called out. Her struggles increased.

Terri wrapped her arms around Oscura's throat and squeezed, causing Oscura to have some trouble breathing. Oscura managed to stand up and walk around with Terri on her back, hanging on. She turned her head, glaring at Terri through the corner of her eye. Thinking fast, she dug her claws deep into Terri's arms, causing the girl to scream and loosen her grip. Oscura grabbed an arm and slammed the girl into the ground. She placed a foot on her chest to keep her pinned down.

This didn't last too long. Terri extended her long tail and wrapped it around Oscura's leg. She pulled quickly and tossed Oscura several feet away. She scrambled up to her feet and took a fighting stance. Oscura had gotten up quickly. She smirked as she looked in Terri's direction. She began to advance towards Terri, slowly, deliberately.

"Impressive..I see you have improved since the last time we met." Oscura commented. Terri just glared at her. "But still, it won't be enough to save you from me."

sss

Dr. Axel stood outside of Raptor Dyne. She knew Dr. Veloci might be a bit annoyed she came to him at this hour, but she didn't feel she should wait to speak with him, not after what he told her last night. The details, though not much, sparked her interest. She didn't want to wait another day or so to talk to him. It was important that she speak with him as soon as possible.

She entered the building and headed down the hallway. There was a receptionist's desk located close to the entrance. She walked up to it. There was a woman in uniform standing there. It didn't surprise her. She knew Veloci worked unusually late hours and hired a night staff. Dr. Axel nodded in greeting and said, "I am here to see Dr. Veloci."

The woman eyed her and said, "Do you have an appointment with him?"

"Sort of..." Dr. Axel said. "He wanted to meet with me another day, but I insist on seeing him now."

The woman shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to see him unless he calls for you."

"But.." Axel said.

"I'm sorry, but those are the rules." The woman said, narrowing her eyes. "Now unless you have another appointment, want to cancel an appointment, want to arrange another appointment, or apply for a job, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Axel bared her teeth. "And I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to let me pass..."

"Ma'am, there's nothing you can do or say to make me go against the rules." The woman said in a firm voice.

"Oh I think there is..." Axel said, narrowing her eyes dangerously.

sss

Max, Fiona, Rodger, Caruso, and Buzz had arrived by the computer shop where Moynihan had sent them. They examined the area for clues to figure out what had happened. They saw their motorbikes and they immediately knew something terrible had happened. They also saw evidence of blast shots in the ground. They quickly suspected Veloci or one of his other minions. Luckily, Michelle and Terri, as Moynihan had pointed out, still had their communicators with them.

They were now on their way to wherever Michelle and Terri where. They were moving as fast as they could in the dark. They wanted to get to them as quickly as possible. They didn't want to have to relive the nightmare that they had when they found Caruso unconscious, thinking he was dead.

"I hope they are all right." Buzz said worriedly.

"They'll be fine." Max reassured. "They're both tough."

Rodger took a moment to look at a small scanner that he held in his hands. He put it away and placed his hand back on the handlebar. "The scanner indicates they are not too far from here. They are both together in what appears to be a building."

"Could you tell if there was anyone else with them?" Max asked.

Rodger shook his head. "All the scanner showed me was a third person but I couldn't figure out who it was. But if I had to guess, I would say Oscura. I have a hunch she's the one who captured them."

Buzz gritted his teeth. "I hate that girl..."

"Right now I'm more concerned about Terri and Michelle." Fiona said. She was feeling guilty for not going with Terri earlier. She felt responsible for this happening.

The team continued driving along the road. It soon led up a hill into a patch of woods. They had never been in this particular part of town before, but they still continued on. As they went up the hill, they soon noticed a building coming into view. It was pretty large, though they had seen bigger. The building wasn't too far away. They were certain this was where Michelle and Terri were.

As soon as they got to the outside of the building, they parked their bikes and got off. They removed their helmets and walked up to the door. They lined up at the door and prepared themselves for a fight. They nodded to each other before Max tried to open the door. It wouldn't budge. He gestured to Rodger and the two of them worked together, banging on the door until it finally swung open. They all ran inside.

They looked frantically around the room until they finally noticed Terri, Michelle, and their captor, Oscura. Michelle was tied to a chair. She wasn't moving much and she didn't look very well. There was blood dripping from her, and they could see evidence of a bite mark on her. Terri was on the ground with Oscura on top of her. Oscura had an arm slung around Terri's neck and seemed to be trying to choke her. Terri looked like she lost a lot of strength trying to fight Oscura. The two of them were fighting a good distance away from where Michelle was.

The Dino Squad reacted immediately. Fiona, Max, and Caruso ran over to where Terri and Oscura were fighting. Rodger and Buzz ran towards where Michelle was tied up. When they reached her, Rodger gently shook Michelle's shoulders to see if she was still awake. When Michelle didn't respond, he and Buzz went to work cutting through the strange-looking rope. With his pteranodon talons, Buzz easily sliced through the rope. Rodger used his strength to pull it away, freeing Michelle.

Rodger tried again to shake her. "Michelle, wake up!"

Michelle's eyes slowly opened. She looked up at him. "R-Rodger? How did you find us?"

Rodger said. "The communicators of course. You and Terri are still wearing them." He looked at her injury and winced. "Oscura bit you?" Michelle nodded her head. "Can you stand up?"

"I will try." Michelle slowly got up out of the chair. She was able to stand, although her legs were wobbly and weak. She tried to take a forward, but she started to fall back down. Immediately Rodger and Buzz grabbed her and steadied her. "I guess that answers your question... I don't think it's anything that serious. I just need to stretch my legs is all."

"Why did Oscura capture you and Terri?" Buzz asked.

"She wanted...information. She said there was something Veloci wanted to know." Michelle explained.

Buzz looked over at Rodger. "Do you think she's talking about our alimon encounter?"

Rodger nodded. "That's what I was thinking. It wouldn't surprise me."

While Rodger and Buzz were talking with Michelle, Caruso, Max, and Fiona had stopped in their tracks not far from Terri. Oscura had noticed them coming and had immediately extended her claws and placed them against Terri's throat. She threatened to tear out her throat if they took another step closer. The trio stopped, fearing for Terri's safety. They continued to glare at Oscura, frustrated that they couldn't get any closer. The girl had already seen them so they couldn't mount a surprise attack. They knew they had to try something, though, otherwise Terri was going to die.

Fiona clenched her hands into fists. "Let Terri go, you obnoxious troodon!"

Oscura smirked. "Never! There's nothing you can do to stop me from killing her! You can try taking another step forward but I'll slice her throat! You can do nothing but I will still kill her!" An insane smile spread onto her face. "No matter what you do, I still win!"

Terri tried to struggle in Oscura's grasp. "Release me!"

Oscura squeezed her tighter, causing her to yelp. Fiona's eyes went wide and she tried to take a step forward, but she stopped herself. Oscura sneered at Fiona and glanced back at Terri. "You have fought well, Terri. I am impressed at how much you've improved since our last encounter. It is a shame you haven't improved enough. I told you that you were no match for me."

"I swear if you hurt her, I'll kill you!" Fiona shouted, her eyes glowing.

Oscura burst out laughing. "Like you can even hope to accomplish that!"

Max pointed at Oscura and said, "Release her now!"

"And why should I listen to you, dino boy? I am in control here. I make the calls. And there's nothing you can do to save her." Oscura sneered, grinning. "If you five hadn't rushed in and had actually planned an ambush, maybe you could have saved her." She glanced down at Terri. "But because of your stupidity, your little friend here will die." She glowed and transformed into her troodon shape, still gripping Terri with her hands, digging in her claws.

Terri's eyes instinctively glowed. "I'll transform!"

Oscura opened her jaws, flashing her sharp teeth. 'If you do, brat, I'll bite you! Then you'll be too weak to fight!' Drool dripped from her jaws. She licked her lips in anticipation. She was almost hoping that Terri would transform so she can bite her.

"Don't you dare!" Caruso shouted. He wanted to rush forward and attack Oscura. The only thing holding him back was Terri. He still wanted to prove to Oscura that he was no longer the weakling she used to know. "If you do, I'll crush you!"

Oscura closed her jaws and turned her head over to Caruso. 'And who are you to threaten me? The same boy who surrendered to the bridle is now threatening me with death? How amusing!' She turned her attention back to Terri. Her tail swished from side to side almost excitedly. She then looked back at Caruso. 'Even if you were to go dino and charge me this instant, I'll still have time to savior one last taste of Terri there.' Caruso, Max, and Fiona's eyes widened in horror as Oscura opened her jaws wide and prepared to bite down.

Just then there was a loud roar, echoing through the building. Oscura paused what she was doing and looked around. The others did likewise, trying to find the source of the sound. A few times, they could see a flash of white but they couldn't see who or what it was. Oscura hissed, turning her head from side to side as she tried to see who dared interfere her.

'Show yourself!' She said, baring her teeth. 'I warn you, if you get too close, I'll kill her!'

As soon as she said that, the white flash appeared again, this time much closer to her. She was startled as she felt herself being knocked onto the ground, releasing her grip on Terri. Once she was free, Terri ran over to where her sister and friends where. They, along with Michelle, Rodger, and Buzz, looked over to see what had knocked Oscura onto the ground. Their eyes widened as they recognized what it was. It was another alimon.

This alimon physically looked like the other one except for one difference. Instead of having a short mane, it had long feathers jetting out of the back of its neck. The alimon was white in color with a light blue underside and light blue stripes. It had a scar on its left shoulder, the same one they had seen on the purple alimon. But the most striking feature of the alimon was its eyes. It was odd-eyed, with one eye blue and the other green. It stood over Oscura, using a foot to hold her down.

Oscura screeched at it. 'Release me now!'

The white alimon smiled. "You are not in any position to give me orders." It was clear the alimon was male. "It is I who should be giving you orders." Oscura tried to bite him but he quickly seized her jaws and held them shut with his other paw. She tried to pull her head back, but the alimon's grip was iron tight. Slowly, the alimon got off of her, still holding her mouth. With little effort, he threw her into the ground.

Oscura struggled to get back onto her feet, but the alimon came onto her again, this time slamming his jaws onto her thin neck. She shrieked in pain as the alimon lifted her off the ground and throw her into the wall. She slammed her head against the metallic wall and lay limp on the ground, shifting back into human form. The white alimon looked over at her and snorted, as if he was disappointed the fight didn't last long enough for him. He then turned his attention to the other occupants of the building.

Caruso was the first one to approach the male alimon. He looked nervous. "Thank you for saving Terri." He said, trying to be polite.

Rodger nodded in agreement. "Yeah. That was a close call."

Max took a step towards the white alimon. "My name is Max and this is..." His eyes widened as the white alimon charged him suddenly, pushing him into the ground without warning. The alimon held him down with his paw.

"I know who you are." The white alimon said, lowering his head so it was close to Max's face. "Everyone here is part of the Dino Squad team. My people are already familiar with you all. You do not need to introduce yourselves to me."

Max's eyes went wide. "How do you know about us?"

"We have our ways." The male alimon chuckled. "Trust me. We know more about you then you know about us."

Fiona shouted, "Why did you attack him? He didn't threaten you into a fight!"

The alimon looked over at Fiona. "Do I need a threat to fight? I think not!" Regardless, he still got off of Max, who got up and moved away from him. The alimon glanced at Max, Fiona, and Caruso, studying them. He turned his head over to Rodger, Buzz, and Michelle. He took note of how weak Michelle was looking. Smirking, he began to walk over towards Michelle. "You don't look too well, my dear."

Buzz narrowed his eyes. "I won't let you hurt her!" He and Rodger moved in front of Michelle protectively.

The alimon laughed. "I'd like to see you try to save her from me..." With that, the alimon let out another roar. He charged towards Rodger and Buzz, mouth wide open.


	10. Accidentally Killer

Veloci was sitting down in his favorite dinosaur-style chair, looking up at the monitors. He had been looking for any signs of Oscura, knowing full well she'd go dino during the interrogation. He was surprised when he noticed signals from not just Oscura, but also members of the Dino Squad. His eyes narrowed. He could tell, from the signature, that Oscura had failed him. The signals were all moving, meaning she hadn't tied them down for interrogation.

"I knew I should have sent Kista with her." He grumbled to himself. Then his expression softened momentarily when he noticed something else about the monitors. They had started to show signal of something else and he recognized the signature as one of the mysterious, same as the one that had attacked the Dino Squad earlier...

He immediately got up from his chair. He wasn't going to miss this chance to capture one of these strange animals. He knew that if he wanted to have time to capture the animal, he had to act now. He thought of sending Peter instead of Kista. Peter was now available for another mission. He had recently come back with some ancient mammalian fossils just like he had asked. Veloci had not yet got around to experimenting on them yet. He was currently more interested in capturing at least one of the unknown creatures.

Peter was on one of the higher levels in Raptor Dyne, so he headed towards the elevator. He pushed the button and waited for it to open up for him. When it opened for him, he was about to step inside when he noticed the elevator already had an occupant. Veloci took a step back, utterly surprised by who came walking out of the elevator.

"Dr. Axel...?" Veloci said in shock. Then his eyes narrowed. "How did you get in here? This place is off limits!" He quickly realized the full gravity of the situation. Axel was in the one place he worked so hard to keep a secret from the human race. And now, everything in the room, including his experiments, were in plain sight of Dr. Axel. And yet the woman hardly seemed to have a reaction to it at all. She was just staring calmly at Veloci.

"It may be off limits, but I still need to talk to you." Axel said. "Now you said..."

Veloci cut her off. "What is that red stuff on your mouth?"

Axel traced a finger on her mouth and looked at it. She could see a bit of redness on it. She smiled. "Oh that? It's just ketchup." She licked the red stuff off her finger. "I had a hotdog before I came here. I must've forgotten to clean it off."

Veloci nodded his head slowly. "I see... Anyway why have you come here? I told you I would speak to you another day. I'm busy right now."

Axel smirked. "Well yes, but as I said, I need to talk to you now." Her expression quickly grew more serious. "I need to know everything you know about the strange animals you claim to be seeing."

Veloci blinked, not understanding why Dr. Axel couldn't wait. At the moment, he was concerned with her being in his underground lab without his permission and he contemplated having her thrown out immediately. But even then, it was already too late. Even if she didn't react to anything, she still had seen too much and if she so pleased, she could report anything there to the authorities. He wasn't interested in killing her since she had provided valuable information to him in the past. Perhaps he should give her information. After all, if anyone could help him capture one of these animals, it was Axel.

"Not so long ago, my scanners had picked up signals coming from a creature I hadn't seen before. The signature on the radar showed an animal with a body similar to the fossils you were investigating yourself, Dr. Axel." Veloci explained. "I had sent one of my workers out to capture the animal for further testing. After all, discovering a living specimen of an animal thought to be extinct is always exciting. However, my worker had failed to capture the animal."

Axel nodded her head, a frown still on her face. "Is there anything else that you happen to know?"

"Well.." Veloci gestured towards the monitors he had been looking at earlier. Dr. Axel glanced over. "As you can see, the monitors are showing the same signal again. I was about to send another worker of mine out to capture the animal. I don't have much time. The creature could disappear quickly."

Axel looked at the monitors, studying the signature. There was a hint of recognition in her eyes. She looked back at Veloci. "You want to capture the creature? For scientific study?"

Veloci nodded. "Yes. So why don't you just leave now so I can continue with what I was doing? Every second that ticks by decreases the chances of the animal's capture."

Just then, one of Veloci's men came running towards him. His helmet was off, which revealed he was frightened about something. When he reached Veloci, he stopped, and panted heavily to catch his breath.

"What are you doing here?" Veloci asked, narrowing his eyes. Putting his hands on his hips, he said, "You're supposed to be on cleaning duty."

"I know that, sir... And I apologize, but I felt I must tell you that..." The man gasped.

"That what?" Veloci inquired, looking a bit interested to know why this man rudely interrupted his discussion with Axel.

The man panted a few more seconds, then seemed to calm down. He stood straight up. "Sir, I was just at the receptionist's desk. The woman at the receptionist's.. she's dead, sir."

Veloci's eyes widened slightly. "What?"

"Her throat had been ripped out, and some of her limbs were ripped off too. Her corpse looks much like the corpses the police had found." The man said, sounding like he was trying to keep his cool.

"Is there any evidence of what could have done that?" Even though Veloci didn't care about humans, he still felt some kind of responsibility for the humans that worked for him. He knew if he didn't ensure a good public image, he could potentially lose workers from the government taking them away, or lose potential recruits. He couldn't have that.

"No evidence other than bloody footprints, and those fade quickly." The man said.

Veloci's mind clicked. "One of those strange animals must have been in Raptor Dyne. But why didn't my scanner set off?" It didn't make sense to him, unless he was so engrossed in watching Oscura that he didn't notice if any other signature had been picked up. He looked over quickly at the last person who saw the receptionist alive. "Dr. Axel, did you see anything unusual?"

"No, I'm afraid not. Everything was normal." Dr. Axel said, scratching her head. "I didn't even hear anything."

Veloci stared at her for a few moments, then rushed towards the elevator. He turned back to the man who had given the news. "You, go find Peter and Kista and tell them to go the coordinates on the monitors. They are to capture the animal and bring it back here." He looked back at Axel. Before he pressed the button, he immediately grabbed her by the arm.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Axel hissed at him.

Veloci roughly pulled her into the elevator with him. "You are leaving this instant. That is what you are doing!" He glared at her. "Next time, wait until I give you permission before you barge into my private quarters!"

Dr. Axel chuckled forcefully, though she still looked angry. "Well sorry. I'll be sure to do that next time."

"You'd better.." Veloci warned her before pressing the button. "There are certain...consequences for doing what you did. I'm only letting you off the hook because you've been helpful to me in the past."

"Well I guess I should thank you then." Axel growled softly, giving a fake smile. Veloci didn't say anything as the elevator and started to go up. When Veloci looked away from her, Axel narrowed her eyes.

sss

The Dino Squad had learned from their previous alimon encounter. They knew they couldn't risk fighting the alimon or risk getting hurt. And with Michelle sick, they didn't want to risk her safety for the sake of driving away the alimon. So they divided into two groups. One group would stay behind and distract the alimon while the second group left to head to the lighthouse. Worried that the alimon would try to follow them, the first group would remain until the second group reports that they had reached the lighthouse. The first group was composed of Caruso, Buzz, and Max. They stood in front of the alimon, blocking its path as the second group, composed of Terri, Fiona, and Rodger, carried Michelle to safety.

As Terri, Rodger, and Fiona got outside and made their way to the lighthouse, Max roared at the alimon. 'We will not allow you to pass!'

The white alimon paced back and forth, trying to find a spot to squeeze past the three dinosaurs. Upon not seeing any, he growled softly, somewhat in frustration though partly in amusement. He craned his head to look into the eyes of Max. "Is that so? How long do you think you'll be able to keep me from going after them?"

'We don't know. But long enough to keep you from hurting them!' Caruso said, lifting his tail threateningly.

'The three of us will be able to hold you back long enough!' Buzz said with confidence. He was hovering above everyone else, flapping his wings to stay aloft. 'And we would like to see you try break through us!'

At this challenge, the alimon smirked evilly. He started pacing again, glancing at the three dinosaurs. No matter where he went, the three dinosaurs would follow and readjust their positions so there was no way to get out. The alimon would walk to the left, and then to the right, the three Dino Squad members moving with him. The white alimon looked only mildly frustrated. He finally stood still and eyed the dinosaurs, deep in thought. He swished his tail from side to side as he seemed to be thinking, studying the three and the environment they were in.

After a moment, the alimon started to make his move. He focused on the left side first, walking towards it. Just as before, the three dinosaurs moved towards the left to block his path. The alimon broke into the run towards the left, running straight towards the three dinosaurs. Max, Buzz, and Caruso got into fighting positions, preparing to attack the alimon when he got too close. Suddenly, at the last second, the alimon veered to the right. The startled trio hadn't expected this move and didn't have time to react as the alimon slipped past them and ran out the door.

'No!' Buzz let out a screech as he flew off after the alimon. Caruso and Max, equally shocked, ran after the alimon.

The alimon was faster than they had expected him to be. Caruso and Max were running as fast as they could, but they were unable to get close enough to the alimon to attack. Buzz, on the other hand, being able to fly, was able to position himself directly above the creature. Eyes narrowing, he took a dive down, going as fast as he could. As he got closer, he changed his position and brought forth his foot talons. He was about to land the attack when he suddenly hit against low branches, getting entangled in them.

Max and Caruso continued to run towards the alimon. The tough terrain made it difficult for them to run, but the alimon didn't seem to have as much trouble. The alimon was getting further ahead as time passed by. The two knew they couldn't let this happen and they started to push themselves harder. But despite their efforts, they just couldn't keep up with the white alimon. And what was worse was that the alimon seemed to be heading in the direction where the lighthouse was. Even though they had no proof the alimon would find the lighthouse, they couldn't risk letting him get too close.

'He's getting too far away!' Max shouted, his tongue hanging out.

'I know that! I'm trying to catch up to him!' Caruso responded.

'We aren't going fast enough! At this rate, he'll get away!' Max couldn't tell if the alimon was heading for their friends or not. But he didn't want to take that chance.

'I'll get him!' Overhead, Buzz, who had freed himself, took off after the alimon.

He easily caught up to the alimon. This time, instead of diving down to attack the alimon, he chose a different approach. He flew a little faster, moving so that he was in front of the alimon instead of directly above him. He then dove down as fast as he could, this time not bringing out his talons. He managed to land in front of the alimon and wrap his wings around to catch him. The alimon, startled, didn't react as he and Buzz rolled across the floor.

When they stopped, the alimon found himself on his back, staring up at Buzz. "You stupid bird! Get out of my way!"

'You are not going to hurt my friends!' Buzz screeched, holding out his wings in a threatening posture.

The male alimon bared his teeth. "Then you shall suffer instead." He bit down on Buzz's leg, causing him to shriek in pain. With a thrust of the neck, he tossed Buzz away and got up off the ground. "It's a shame your friends won't catch up before it's too late!" He charged towards Buzz and pinned him down. He bit down on Buzz's wing.

The alimon had made too quick a judgment. Just as he was about to break Buzz's wing, he felt a pair of jaws enclose around his body. In surprise, he let go of Buzz. He was lifted swiftly into the air and realized Max had caught up to him, much faster than he expected. The jaws held him tightly, though did not bite down hard enough to kill him.

Caruso had caught up as well. He had rushed toward Buzz's side and used his tail to gently lift him up from the ground. 'Are you all right?'

Buzz glanced at the new bite on his wing, wincing. 'Yeah, I think I'll be okay. I'll need to have this treated, though.'

"Release me at once!" The alimon demanded, looking very annoyed.

'Not until you answer some questions!' Max narrowed his eyes.

"And why should I answer any question from you? I do not rat on my own pack!" The white male hissed, baring his teeth. He didn't bother waiting for an answer from Max. He lifted a hind leg and kicked swiftly. The sharp talons slashed across Max, causing him to roar in pain. As the jaws opened, he jumped from Max's mouth and landed on the ground. "You fools thought you could hold me? I'm one of my pack's best fighters, even if they don't always believe it! You three should have thought more before you decided to fight me!"

The white male lunged for Caruso, who still had his back turned. He lowered his head and slammed against Caruso's side, knocking the stegosaurus down. He heard heavy footsteps behind him. He quickly turned around and leaped at Max, who was barreling towards him now. He managed to jump high enough to bite down onto Max's upper jaw. Max's eyes widened in pain and he shook his head, tossing the alimon away.

But the alimon wasn't defeated. Back on his feet again, he bit down onto Max's leg, drawing blood. He heard a screech behind him and he quickly let go. He looked at Buzz and waited until he got close enough before he launched his attack. He bit down onto Buzz's neck and slammed him into the ground. He then turned his attention back to Caruso and ran towards him. He bit down onto one of Caruso's plates and bit down with enough force to break the plate, causing blood to spew from it. Caruso bellowed in agony.

There was another roar, this one coming from another source. The male alimon seemed to pause and the Dino Squad watched in anticipation as the alimon turned his head to the source of the sound. Coming out from the clearing was yet another alimon, this one brown with a blue underside. This one had the same downy mane, so was obviously female. Unlike with the white male, her scar was on her right shoulder. This brown female looked angry, her eyes staring intently at the white male.

"What do you think you're doing?!" The brown female hissed, baring her sharp teeth at the male.

"Taking care of some nuisances." The white male replied as the trio glared at him. "What's it to you?"

"Didn't you get the memo? The boss doesn't want us to fight them!" The female said angrily. "Really, if you hadn't played hooky, you would have known that! Luckily for you I came along and warned you before you get us into a scrap!"

As this was going on, Caruso started to sneak around them. He wanted to have a chance to attack the white alimon while his attention was diverted. Once he was in position, he charged forward, opening his jaws wide. Unfortunately, the female had spotted him and quickly shoved the white male out of the way, causing Caruso to bite into dirt instead of flesh. He lifted his head up and coughed, spitting out the dirt from his mouth. The female lunged at him and knocked him away from the white male.

The female's attention was now on the Dino Squad. Her attack on the stegosaurus caught the attention of the other two dinosaurs in the group. The trio were moving towards her. She wasn't frightened, just frustrated. "If only your sister hadn't attacked them..." She could tell the Dino Squad wanted to fight her, especially from facing off with two other alimons, including the white male. "Do starting fights run in your family?"

But she got no response. Confused, she looked behind her. The white male had dashed off, leaving her alone with the three dinosaurs. She growled and shook her head. She didn't look very surprised by this. The white male often ran away when no one was looking. Annoying trait it was. She looked back at the group of dinosaurs. Her expression was that of boredom. She didn't look particularly interested in fighting the dinosaurs, but she knew she had to in order to defend herself, especially since she knew the pteranodon could easily catch up to her if she ran away.

"Why don't you do yourselves a favor and leave now? I want to leave too." The female said calmly, pacing slowly. "But if you choose to fight, believe me, it won't be pretty."

'We just want answers.' Max's eyes narrowed. This alimon couldn't be aware of his friends trying to escape. And he felt he had stalled the white male long enough for the others to reach the lighthouse in time. 'So why don't you provide us them?'

The female shook her head. "If your previous encounter with an alimon taught you nothing, then let me give you advice. You will never get information from any of us."

Caruso took a step forward. 'We will make you talk.'

The female rolled her eyes. "Good luck with that, child. You haven't even removed Veloci from power yet. If you can't even do that, how are you going to defeat me?"

The trio looked shocked. Buzz blinked his eyes a few times. Then they narrowed as he opened his beak partway. 'How did you know about Veloci? The purple alimon told us she didn't know about him!'

"Oh she did? Well I can assure you she's lying. My entire pack is aware of you and Veloci. Ain't it scary?" She chuckled, though she still had a frown on her face. "My people know you better than you know us."

'We hardly know about you!' Max cried.

"My point exactly..." The female said, taking a step forward. "Whatever information you got from your past alimon encounters is all the information you will ever get! Look, I do not wish to fight you. So if you don't mind, I will be taking my leave now." She tried to walk away, but Buzz flew in and blocked her path. She growled in annoyance. "If you wish to fight, then I'll give you a fight. My boss is not going to like it, though.

'Too bad! You aren't leaving until you tell us about your kind, how you know about us, and what your plans are!' Buzz hissed.

'So just make things easier on yourself and comply. We promise to let you go after we're done.' Max said as he and Caruso moved in to surround the female alimon. He was determined to get answers. Every alimon they meet seemed to raise more questions than it answered.

The female alimon was clearly uninterested in talking. Despite her obvious fear of upsetting her boss, she attacked, dashing towards Max. She leaped into the air and wrapped her from limbs around his thick neck and bit into it. Max roared and frantically slashed at her with his small hands. The claws hit their mark several times, but the female wouldn't let go. Caruso rushed forward and Max lowered his head. Aiming carefully, Caruso slammed his tail against the alimon. The female rolled across the floor but quickly got back up again. She ran forward again.

This time she was headed straight for Caruso. She jumped onto his back and dug her claws into him deeply. Caruso howled in pain as he desperately tried to get her off of him. Buzz swooped down and grabbed the alimon by the tail and started to fly up to pull her off. Annoyed, the female turned her attention to Buzz. She opened her jaws and slammed them around his thigh, biting down hard. Buzz shrieked in pain and released her. The female threw him down and returned to her attack on Caruso.

Having recovered from the attack, Max moved in and rammed his head against the female, causing her to fall back into the ground. As she struggled to get up, Max moved in quickly again, grabbing her in his jaws. Having learned his lesson from the white male, he immediately tossed her instead of giving her time to attack. Though a bit bruised and having a few cuts, the female wasn't giving up. In an instant, she was back onto her feet, roaring loudly at the trio. She leaped towards Max, bringing her claws forward, but Max turned to his side and slammed his tail against her, sending her crashing into the ground again. Still, she refused to give up.

"I won't let you brats defeat me!" The alimon declared, on her feet again and kicking up dirt like a mad bull. "You should have just let me go peacefully!"

'And you should have just answered our questions and this wouldn't have happened!' Caruso shouted at her.

The female alimon bared her teeth. "I would rather die than betray my pack."

With that, she ran towards Caruso. She leaped at him, her talons aimed directly towards him. She opened her jaws wide, prepared to bite into his skull and crush it. Caruso looked up at her in horror, realizing that he didn't have enough time to move out of the way before the alimon would have her jaws on his head. He closed his eyes, waiting for the blow. Just then he saw a flash of green and opened his eyes, noticing Buzz in front of him.

In an effort to save Caruso, Buzz lifted a wing, spreading his two wing claws to attack. As the alimon got closer, knowing she wouldn't be able to move out of the way, Buzz struck out with his claws. His claws dug deep into the alimon's underside as he slashed along it. The alimon let out a lout screech of pain as she collapsed onto the ground. Buzz looked down at her and his eyes widened. His claws had dug in much further than he had anticipated. Out of the gash now present on the female's stomach, her intestines had spilled out, their fleshy scent now filling the air. The female alimon looked up at him, her eyes wide with horror and pain. They then glazed over and she closed them.

For a moment, the trio stared at the female alimon's corpse, blood pouring from the gaping wound and other organs exposed to the air. Their more advanced sense of smell combined with the horrible smell coming from the body caused them to nearly throw up. They backed away from the body, trembling slightly from what had just happened. Buzz especially was horrified at what he had done. The trio shifted back into human form and continued to stare at the dead body, unable to tear their eyes away from it.

"Buzz..." Max whispered. "What have you done?"

"I..I didn't mean to..." Buzz said, his hands shaky. He stared at his bloodied hand. "I was only trying to protect Caruso."

"We..we should tell Moynihan about this.." Caruso said, turning around.

"He's right.." Max said. "Let's get going." He forced himself to turn around.

"Okay.." Buzz's voice was shaky and took a bit of will power to make himself turn around. He still couldn't believe what he just did. He didn't mean to kill the alimon. He just wanted to keep her away from Caruso.

As he and the others walked off, a new alimon appeared onto the scene. This alimon was male and had green skin with a white back. He walked up to the corpse, looking horrified at finding it. He ran over and gently nudged it. When the still form didn't respond, he looked over and saw the trio of humans walking away. His eyes narrowed dangerously. He glanced back down at the body and, through careful effort, placed the body onto his back. He took one more glance at the retreating humans before he ran off.


End file.
